WATCH: Wolverhampton gang smash and grab raider in 140mph police chase

Scott Parker was caught by police following a 140mph pursuit along the M42 that ended when officers 'stung' the stolen BMW M3 he was travelling in.

He was found hiding in a garden off Birmingham Road ? the car grinding to a halt having pulled off at junction 1 ? and arrested over a break-in at Sainsbury's in Shirley earlier in the morning of July 29, where thieves forced entry and attacked a tobacco cabinet with a crowbar.

West Midlands Police detectives worked with colleagues in Somerset, Wales, Northampton and Derby to link the 34-year-old to six similar burglaries where shops were targeted for their cigarette stocks.

CCTV showed Parker, of Emerson Road in The Scotlands, wearing a tracksuit top with duct tape masking the sports brand's logo during each burglary ? and when officers found him crouched behind a tree just after 2am on 29 July he was wearing the same jacket.

He refused to co-operate with police during interview but at court went on to admit seven counts of burglary between 25 June and 29 July last year.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Dave Bailey said: "This was an organised series of offences… The shops were chosen in advance and CCTV showed the three members of the group had specific, rehearsed roles. All shops were hit in the early hours; twice they fled empty handed but in the other five they got away with a total of almost £40,000 in cigarettes.

"Parker's arrest followed a fantastic bit of police work: officers were aware a BMW M3 was linked to a series of burglaries and, when a motorist reported one being driven suspiciously, traffic police acted quickly to pick up its trail.

On July 7 Parker made off with £7,100 worth of cigarettes from a Co-Op in Taunton and 10 days later was involved in another early morning raid at Co-Op Burwell, in Cambridgeshire, when £14,000 in tobacco was stolen.

"They safely pursued the car as it tried to escape at high speed and a stinger was deployed to puncture its tyres and bring it to a standstill.

"Since Parker's arrest we've not seen any more burglaries of this type; we're still looking to identify two other men involved in the raids."

Parker admitted being involved in a June 25 Tenbury Wells raid where £5,500 in cigarettes were stolen after being stuffed into garden sacks, plus jobs on 30 June in Derby and 21 July in Ruthin, North Wales, where tobacco valued at £5,226 and £5,840 were grabbed.

But he failed to breach security shutters on 15 July when, again along with two accomplices, attacked a shop in Brackley High Street, Northamptonshire.

Detectives traced the stolen BMW, which was running on false plates, to a burglary in Newport, Shropshire, in June last year. More stolen and cloned number plates, plus a device designed to snap door locks, were also recovered from the car.

At Birmingham Crown Court on January 21 Parker was jailed for 22 months.