Worksop man jailed for stealing delivery driver's van as he dropped off a parcel

Jamie Kettle had watched the delivery driver leave his van unoccupied as he went to place a parcel on a doorstep in Shrewsbury Road at around 2.45pm on October 2, 2021,

He then jumped into the driver’s side and attempted to drive away.

A passing motorist pressed his horn to alert the delivery driver that Kettle was attempting to steal his van.

Kettle got only three metres down the road before the victim took a hold of the steering wheel to get him to stop and pull over.

After stalling the van and hitting a kerb, Kettle then ran away.

Police quickly attended and found Kettle a few streets away.

After being arrested, Kettle was then spat in the back of the police van.

Kettle pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent and criminal damage to property appeared at Nottingham Crown Court.

The 35-year-old, of Queen Street, Worksop, was jailed for a total of 34 weeks on February 18.

Detective Inspector Nick Hall, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was an incredibly distressing incident for the victim who was just going about his day job and understandably left him scared and shaken.

“This type of opportunist behaviour is utterly unacceptable and not only did Kettle take the van without consent he then later went on to behave in a way that showed a complete lack of respect towards our officers.

“We’ve made it perfectly clear that we take any incidents of spitting extremely seriously not only is it disgusting and has a lot of health concerns but it costs people’s time and money to clean it up and can take a police van which is a vital piece of equipment off the roads while it is thoroughly cleaned.

“These sorts of offences can have a severe impact on victims and cause a great deal of distress and that is why we will always do everything in our power to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

“Officers in this instance acted quickly to investigate and locate Kettle and it’s thanks to their hard work and the investigation that we were able to apprehend him and haul him up in front of the courts.

“I hope his time behind bars will make him reevaluate his decisions and the impact his actions can have on victims.”

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