JAILED: Dangerous driver who led police on high speed chase through Black Country streets

Matthew Fieldhouse, 28, reached speeds of up to 68mph, sped through red lights and drove on the wrong side of a dual carriageway on February 22.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday, he was jailed for two years and one month after admitting dangerous driving, handling stolen goods and breaching a suspended sentence.

Police spotted a Vauxhall Astra travelling at speed on Woden Road West in Wednesbury at 11.18am. The car had been stolen the previous day from the driveway of an address in Willenhall.

The car drove over speed bumps along Bilston Road at speeds of up to 57mph, before hitting 68mph on Holyhead Road, where the limit is 20mph.

It went on to overtake traffic at 66mph on Myvod Road and sped through a red light at the junction of Wood Green Road.

Mr Ian Windridge, prosecuting, said the car mounted a kerb on Axletree Way and sped towards the motorway island where it narrowly avoided a collision with a BMW. The car then drove over the central reservation and into oncoming traffic.

The pursuit came to an end when the Astra was blocked in by police cars at the slip road to the Keyway island.

Fieldhouse, of Clinton Road, Bilston, was arrested at the scene, along with passengers Michael Samuel, 26, and Stacey Fagan, 27.

Following their arrests, Samuel and Fagan also admitted to a number of fuel thefts that took place between February 19 and 20.

On February 19, they were in another stolen Astra being driven by Samuel at a service station in Wombourne, where they made off with £114 worth of diesel.

The pair struck again later that night when they stole £101 of diesel from the Texaco station at the Stowlawn Co-op. In another fuel theft, Samuel is said to have stolen £114 of diesel from the Esso garage in The Scotlands.

The court heard that Fagan was detained the following day after she attempted to steal two electric shavers worth £100 each from Tesco in Walsall.

Fieldhouse, who was on licence at the time of the offence, was said to have acted out of a 'sense of panic' when police started to pursue the stolen Astra.

Fagan, of Coronation Road, Tipton, 'came off the rails' when her two young children were taken into care, said Mr Lee Masters, defending.

She admitted handling stolen goods, making off without payment, theft and allowing herself to be carried. She was jailed for 12 months.

Father-of-three Samuel, of no fixed address, admitted handling stolen goods, making off without payment, driving while disqualified and allowing himself to be carried. He was sent to prison for 16 months.

None of the defendants were said to be connected to either car theft.