A MAN who was wanted by police after failing to answer his bail for stealing a motor cycle from the giant Tesco store at Burnt Tree in Dudley was then involved in a high speed police chase while driving on the wheel rims of his stolen car.

All four tyres on the vehicle had been shredded by a stinger device but Devon Garratt continued to drive at speed in a desperate attempt to shake off police and he hit speeds of up to 70mph.

During the terrifying pursuit the 20-year-old swerved from side to side of the road, went the wrong way past road signs and around an island and also forced other drivers to take quick action to avoid a collision.

Judge Jinder Singh Boora told Garratt he had not only put his own life in danger but those of police officers and members of the public.

It was serious offending, he stressed, but he ruled he was just able to avoid sending Garratt straight into custody because there were clear signs he was putting his life back onto the rails.

Garratt of Alexander Road, Tipton, admitted stealing the motor cycle from the underground car park at the store.

driving without insurance or a licence and failing to surrender to Dudley Magistrates after being bailed.

He further admitted stealing tools from a parked van in Wombourne and causing £350 damage to the vehicle after magistrates issued a warrant for his arrest.

And he also admitted aggravated vehicle taking, again having no insurance or a licence and failing to stop for police

officers during the eight mile chase.

The judge gave him a 12 month jail term suspended for 18 months, disqualified him from driving for two years and told him he must carry out 65 hours unpaid work in the community.

Gary Cook defending told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Garratt accepted it was "an absolutely stupid sequence" of offences. He said Garratt had got into a downward spiral but there was now a real prospect of rehabilitation