A Screwfix burglar who crashed his getaway van into a pensioner’s Vauxhall has been jailed for three years – after spurning a chance to keep himself clean of drugs.
Craig Ballantyne, 34, was the only member of the masked gang that broke into the Cowley warehouse store on October 24, 2021, to be caught by the police.
While his fellow thieves jumped in a VW Golf, Ballantyne drove off in the van into which almost £13,000-worth of stolen power tools have been loaded.
READ MORE: Top horsewoman in court for fire safety breaches
Police officers alerted to the burglary by an alarm began chasing after the van.
In the ensuing pursuit, he hit 70mph in 30mph zones, crossed onto the wrong-side of the road, and eventually smashed into a Vauxhall being driven by a 76-year-old pensioner on Henley Avenue before spinning across the road and wiping out a bus stop.
In a victim personal statement prepared in late 2021, the injured pensioner said he had previously been an active person but now felt ‘trapped inside my flat, unable to do the things I enjoy and unable to live life to the fullest’.
He added: “I am frustrated, in pain and my life has come to a stop.”
Ballantyne, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty shortly after his arrest to burglary, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and driving while uninsured.
He was originally sentenced last May to a community order. He completed a 12 week residential drug rehabilitation programme but disengaged with the authorities after he moved to a half-way ‘recovery house’.
On Friday (March 3), defence barrister Robert Lindsey sought to persuade the judge to give his client a final chance to see whether accommodation could be found for him to re-engage with the probation service.
He told the court that Ballantyne, who had struggled with drug addiction since his early teens, had the opportunity to stay with a reformed addict who was a ‘father figure’ to him.
But Recorder John Ryder KC told Mr Lindsey: “He had his chance. He hasn’t taken it.”
The judge told Ballantyne: “Yes, you complied with the 12 week residential period of the community order imposed, but it must be obvious to anyone and certainly to you that an extended period of therapy was required if there was to be any chance of you overcoming these entrenched addictions.”
He jailed the defendant for three years and banned him from the roads for two years, with an extension period of 18 months to cover the time he is expected to spend behind bars.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article