Burglar admits leading police on 115mph chase after stealing £30k Keswick e-scooters

A burglar has admitted leading police on a 115mph midnight chase, including overtaking an ambulance, while driving a van containing £30,000 worth of e-scooters.

Harry Curran, 34, of of Wicker Street, Tower Hamlets, admitted burglary and dangerous driving on the M6 after stealing from a Keswick shop.

Curran appeared via video link at Carlisle Crown Court on Thursday 3 November alongside 41-year-old James Easterbrook, of Cable Street, Tower Hamlets.

Easterbrook, who was not represented by a barrister, is charged with one count of burglary and did not enter a plea at the hearing.

Keswick's E-Venture Bikes at Elliot Park was broken into at around 10:20pm on 5 October. The court was told a witness heard an alarm going off and saw a van at the back of the premises.

CCTV captured the vehicle being driven off at high speed and mobile police patrols caught the van driving at an estimated 115mph in South Cumbria.

The van left the motorway at junction 33 in Lancashire, before continuing dangerous driving along the A6 in rural villages.

Barrister Kim Whittlestone, for Curran, said he is "desperate" to be sentenced as soon as possible.

She said: "He is realistic in light of his antecedents. He knows it is going to be custody, it is just a matter of length."

The case was adjourned by a judge until 1 December 2022.

Easterbrook and Curran will return to the crown court on that date and remain in custody until then.

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