Published: October 28, 2008
Three jailed after dramatic police chase ends in Burnham-On-Sea crash

Three young men have been locked up following what police called the "despicable and cowardly" robbery of an 86-year-old Devon man which resulted in a police chase across Devon and Somerset, ending in this dramatic crash in Burnham-On-Sea.

The trio – along with one other who was never captured – had conned their way into the pensioner's home, ransacked his bedroom, and threatened to kill him with a screwdriver in Plympton.

The elderly man suffered broken fingers and bones in his hand after he attempted to wrestle a tin containing just £100 from one of the thugs' grasp.

They then fled in a stolen car along the A38 before being spotted near Exeter and chased onto the M5 by three police cars and the Devon and Cornwall police force's helicopter.

They reached speeds of 150mph, using the hard shoulder at speeds of 130mph before finally crashing into other cars in Burnham-On-Sea's Love Lane on January 14th this year, as pictured here.

At Plymouth Crown Court this week, Michael Christopher Murphy, aged 19, from a traveller's site at Marroway, near Aylesbury, admitted burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.

His cousin, 17-year-old Michael John Joseph Murphy of no fixed abode, admitted burglary, robbery and aggravated vehicle taking.

Felix Ward, aged 20, from Duchy Caravan Park in Lancashire, admitted two counts of robbery, driving whilst disqualified and aggravated vehicle taking.

Prosecutor Iain Leadbetter said the getaway car – a VW Golf R32 – had been stolen on January 7th from Bristol and driven more than 3,000 miles during the following week.

During the police pursuit, Mr Leadbetter said they drove at "insane speeds", and drove the wrong way around roundabouts.

In sentencing, Judge Francis Gilbert QC said he gave them credit for their guilty pleas, and noted how Ward was prepared to give evidence against his co-defendants.

However, because they were "very serious offences" involving "elderly people" he sent all three to a Young Offenders Institution.

Joseph Murphy was locked up for a total of four years, Christopher Murphy for a total of two years and Ward for a total of six-and-a-half years. All three received credit having spent 281 days on remand.

Speaking after the case, Lead Investigator Det Con Al Dixon said: "It's best I don't comment on the sentences. In my 18 years of service to the people of Plymouth these are the most despicable and cowardly crimes against the most vulnerable and elderly people."

"These people are well practiced and well versed in these kinds of crimes. They are a professional gang of thieves, and we strongly believe they have been involved in a number of similar offences nationwide."

"We believe they are part of a national gang who target the elderly and vulnerable, using varying degrees of violence. They were only brought to a stop because they crashed into two cars. It's astonishing nobody was killed or seriously injured by this driving."

Burnham-On-Sea.com reported at the time that a police vehicle and two cars had been damaged and one person had been treated for shock by paramedics.

One Burnham-On-Sea.com reader sent in this photo of the police helicopter hovering over the scene of the crash