A BURGLAR attracted the eye of police when he used a stolen van as his getaway vehicle.

Police chased John Welsh through Blackburn, along the M6 to West Lancashire.

The 28-year-old was sentenced to a total of two and a half years jail by Preston Crown Court and banned from driving for three and a half years.

He admitted handling a stolen Astra van, disqualified driving, dangerous driving, two burglaries and failing to answer bail and asked for a dozen further offences to be taken into consideration.

Jeremy Grout-Smith, prosecuting, said Welsh burgled two garages in Woodlands Avenue, Blackburn. Around 4am a police officer spotted two vans in that road. Both were listed as stolen. Shortly afterwards the defendant ran from a driveway, jumped into a van and sped off.

A lengthy chase followed when Welsh went through several red lights, travelled the wrong way down a one-way street and drove around Blackburn town centre at 60mph.

He then went on to the M65 and the M6 towards the M58 and eventually a "stinger" device was used to deflate the van's tyres. Welsh, of Ebany Way, Kirkby, was stopped near Skelmersdale.

Steven Ball, defending, said: "He has a long list of previous convictions, mostly relating to motoring offices." He said drug addiction was the explanation for the burglaries. He added: "The burglaries were not of main dwellings and there was no confrontation. The dangerous driving happened in the early hours."

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