A motorist crashed his car twice at high speed in “an astounding and incredible course of criminal conduct” which culminated in the theft of a £40,000 Jaguar from a Scottish car dealership forecourt, a court heard.
Naveed Nawaz, 26, spotted the car that had been left running at the Park’s of Hamilton dealership as updates were loaded to its infotainment system, before fleeing the premises in Inverness, in an apparent attempt to drive back home to Birmingham on October 8, last year, before being apprehended by police a short time later.
The Inverness Sheriff Court heard how the theft came to fruition after Nawaz had recently driven his own 11-year-old car into a ditch and collided with a house conservatory, all within the space of three action-packed days.
The court also heard that on October 2, Nawaz had been driving at up to 90mph on a single-track road near the small Scottish village of Lairg, when he seemingly lost control of his car and ended up in a ditch.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank told the Inverness Courier that Nawaz had committed “an astounding and incredible course of criminal conduct in a matter of days” and asked: “Was he trying to do the North Coast 500?” – a famed driving route of just over 500 miles of stunning coastal scenery in the far north of Scotland.
Nawaz had reportedly been released following the theft of the Jaguar, but twice failed to turn up at Inverness Sheriff Court to answer the undertaking in November.
“A warrant was issued and he was arrested in Glasgow on December 7,” Nawaz’s solicitor Neil Wilson said, whilst also adding that he could give no indication as to why Nawaz was in the area.
The Courier reported that Nawaz admitted theft of a car, failing to identify the driver to police when he was intercepted and driving the unregistered Jaguar car without insurance.
Nawaz also admitted two charges of careless driving, failing to identify the driver of the vehicle involved in the collisions and trespassing onto a railway line near Inverness on October 9.
Sheriff Cruickshank backdated the custodial sentence to December 8, and also banned Nawaz from driving for 16 months.
Keyword: ‘Inept’ car thief stole £40,000 Jaguar from Scottish dealership forecourt