A trio of thieves who staged raids in Swindon were snared when their van full of stolen goods crashed into police cars after a dramatic chase on the M4.

On-duty officers from the Serious Youth Gang Violence and Burglary Team were made aware of a Citroen Berlingo van travelling around Swindon which had been involved in two thefts on the evening of January 15, 2024.

They spotted the vehicle with stolen plates on the A3102 near Blagrove at 11.45pm and followed it to the Junction 16 roundabout.

An attempt to stop the van at a red light failed as the vehicle drove on, mounted a grass verge, and headed onto the motorway, pursued for four minutes by the officers’ vehicle and three other police cars with colleagues from Specialist Ops, Roads Policing and Firearms teams.

Swindon Crown Court heard on Friday that the van travelled towards Bristol and then made “a dangerous manoeuvre to head into the opposite direction” before crashing into police cars and the central reservation of the motorway.

The three occupants of the van were arrested and taken to hospital.

The van included tools stolen from a vehicle on Beatrice Street and motocross bikes worth £5,500 altogether along with hundreds of pounds worth of equipment and clothing taken from Austin Road.

Scott Lippiatt, 24, of Stanier Road in Siston, had been behind the wheel of the Citroen van, tested positive for cocaine and did not have insurance or a valid driving licence.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop, multiple counts of theft from a vehicle, driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent, going equipped for theft, driving otherwise in accordance with a licence and without insurance

His passengers - 30-year-old John Matthews, of The Gastons in Lawrence Weston, Bristol, and 26-year-old Chaz Bevan, of Broadbury Road in Knowle, Bristol – were arrested for various thefts.

Matthews has 31 previous convictions for 73 offences from 2009 to 2020, and Evans has six convictions for 17 offences committed between 2016 and 2021, while Lippiatt has eight convictions for 15 offences carried out between 2017 and 2022 and was on licence after being sentenced for GBH when he committed this latest crime.

Bevan’s solicitor explained that he “can be easily influenced and does not consider the consequences of his actions” due to limited maturity and diagnoses of autism and ADHD.

Matthews “made poor choices on the night of the offence” and struggles with ADHD and bipolar disorder.

Lippiatt “has made efforts to better himself” and employment “has helped keep him away from negative influences that have hounded him for some time”.

Lippiatt received a 17-month prison sentence and a driving ban which will last two years and eight months.

For their roles in the crime spree, Bevan must carry out 80 hours of unpaid work, up to 15 rehabilitation activity days and a Thinking Skills programme in the next 18 months, while Matthews must carry out 26 sessions of the Thinking Skills programme as well as 12 mental health treatment sessions and 20 rehabilitation activity days in the next 24 months.

PC Warren Johnston said: “By doing what he did, Lippiatt showed no respect for other motorists by driving in such a mindless and dangerous manner with the potential of causing multiple serious collisions.  

"This was all done with a stolen vehicle full of stolen goods he had taken from vehicles in Swindon prior to making his way onto the motorway.

"The teamwork displayed by multiple teams within Wiltshire and quick decisive actions of officers brought the matter to a swift and safe conclusion and allowed the return of a number of high-value stolen items to their owners.”