Knife thug’s 70mph street terror chase

A THUG held a razor-sharp kitchen knife to the neck of a driver who had just given him a lift, then stole his car.

Jamie Sharrocks (24) later led police on a wild and reckless chase through Oldham, when he drove at speeds of up to 70mph in 30mph zones.

He was finally arrested when he was found hiding in the boot of another car close to his home, after abandoning the stolen Vauxhall.

Jailing him for a year, Recorder Simon Parrington, at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, told him: “People like you, who carry and use knives, must expect immediate custodial sentences.

“You used a kitchen knife to intimidate and threaten, with the clear intent of stealing this car, then drove at high speeds in a dangerous manner, and there is no doubt peoples’ lives were placed at risk.”

Brian Berlyne, prosecuting, told the court that Sharrocks, of Furness Avenue, Alt, had been offered a lift, along with a friend, when they were recognised by Ashar Iqbal, who had been a passenger in the Vauxhall, being driven by his pal Zahir Abbas.

Mr Abbas had been driving along Abbeyhills Road, at around 6.30pm on August 13, when Mr Iqbal spotted the pair at the side of the road and asked him to pull up.

Sharrocks and the second man got into the back of the car, and asked to be taken to Hartshead Pike.

Mr Abbas said he couldn’t take them that far, but offered to drive them part way, to the Holts Estate.

On arrival the passengers were asked to get out, but instead, the second man who has not been identified, produced a knife which he held at Mr Iqbal’s throat.

At the same time, Sharrocks held a knife at Mr Abbas’s neck.

The court was told that the two frightened men remember words being spoken, but they could not make out what was being said.

Both managed to get out of the vehicle, but as Mr Abbas did so, the car rolled backwards over his foot.

The car was driven away at speed, but after police were alerted, patrol officers spotted the vehicle half an hour later on Lees New Road.

When they tried to get Sharrocks who was driving, to stop, he accelerated away reaching speeds of up to 70 mph in a bid to outrun them.

Steven Sullivan, defending, said his client who has a lengthy record of offences including car thefts, had little recollection of what happened on the night.

He said he had been suffering from acute depression following the recent breakdown of his relationship with his girl friend of four years, and several hours before the incident, had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets with the intention of taking his own life.