Fake fireman caught on fantasy 999 dash

A fake fireman who was rejected from the brigade fitted a car with sirens and flashing lights and sped through the Black Country on his way to a non-existent car crash, a court heard.

Dean Jones, aged 19, turned his father's car into a makeshift fire-engine and drove at double the speed limit on the wrong side of the road.

He narrowly avoided a string of collisions, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

The former fire service volunteer was ordered to complete 180 hours unpaid work and pay £800 costs after police put an end to his firefighting "fantasy."

Banning him from driving for 18 months, Judge Martin Walsh said: "The consequences of what you did could have been disastrous."

Miss Rhiannon Jones, prosecuting, said the teenager, previously of Great Barr, paid £45 for the sirens and lights on ebay before fitting them to the VW Fox on March 19.

Police spotted him driving along Beacon Road in Walsall with red and blue lights flashing and sirens blaring and followed him for a mile, at speeds of up to 60mph.

Miss Jones said he dodged between traffic, narrowly missed other cars and drove on the wrong side of the road before turning onto Bridle Lane and pulling over at Doe Bank.

"He was wearing a West Midlands Fire Service t-shirt and told the officers he was a fireman looking for a major road traffic collision," she said.

They found a full uniform, including yellow hat and boots, in the car, but when quizzed Jones admitted he was a shop cashier who volunteered for the Young Firefighters Association.

Mr Jasvir Mann, defending, said: "Putting road users at risk is a serious matter and he realises that."

The court heard Jones had begun volunteering for the Young Firefighters Association when he was 10 and had progressed to be an instructor, going into schools to teach about the service.

His lifelong ambition to be a firefighter was crushed when his application to join was unsuccessful in 2008.

Jones, of Shapfell, Rugby, admitted dangerous driving.