Pair jailed following hours-long man hunt in woods

Two men have been handed prison sentences after a high-speed car chase and hours-long man hunt.

Kyle Marshall, 19 of HMP Bristol, and Finley Phillips, 18 of Sherrin Way, Bishopsworth, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday 19 January after pleading guilty to a number of counts.

Marshall pleaded guilty to non-dwelling burglary, dwelling burglary, theft from and of a motor vehicle, aggravated vehicle taking without consent (dangerous driving and original taker) and driving offences.

Phillips pleaded guilty to non-dwelling burglary and aggravated vehicle taking without consent (passenger).

Marshall was sentenced to three years and nine months, and Phillips was handed one year and nine months in prison.

A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also charged dwelling burglary, non-dwelling burglary and aggravated vehicle taking without consent (passenger), appeared in Yeovil Youth Court at the end of last year and was handed a youth order.

The court heard how, on Saturday 1 October last year, officers were alerted to a BMW X1 bearing suspected false licence plates as it left the force area for Wiltshire.

Officers from our Road Policing Unit put a plan in place for when the car, which they believed to be stolen, re-entered the force area.

At around 3.45am, the car was spotted on the A36 in Farleigh Hungerford and failed to stop and reached speeds of more than 120mph.

Following a short car chase, a tactical stinger was deployed, and the four tyres of the BMW were deflated.

The driver and passengers then made off on foot into fields and thick woodland where they were pursued by officers from our dog unit.

Officers searched for several hours, PD Athos and his handler located three offenders and detained them.

When searching the BMW, a small KTM motorbike and other items stolen from a non-dwelling burglary had been recovered. This burglary had occurred in Wiltshire just before the vehicle returned to the Avon and Somerset force area.

The BMW was indeed bearing false plates and was confirmed to be a stolen vehicle following a dwelling burglary in which keys were taken from Herefordshire.

Our specialist officers from Op Remedy then worked to complete the case and bring charges against the two men and teenager.

Talking about the night of the incident, Tactical Support Team Sgt Ash Rowland said: “The officers involved are a credit to their departments and highlighted the reason the Tactical Support Team is here.

“They displayed utter professionalism and resilience which resolved a highly dangerous situation safely.

“Credit should also be given to all the officers involved, including the local policing teams who were all assisting with containment and transportation of the offenders, and the communications team who worked in the background to provide vital support throughout.”

Op Remedy Insp Steve Davey said: “This was a great result following a large amount of hard work by officers both on the day and in the aftermath.

“We have been able to reunite the victims with some of their belongings and hold these men to account for their actions. We hope that the custodial sentences handed down in court go some way to consoling the victims.”