Stolen van rams police cars and leaves 'trail of broken wing mirrors' during shocking rush hour pursuit

Shocking video shows how a van thief left a ‘trail of broken wing mirrors’ in his wake, as he rammed cars and left a broken door flapping about during a terrifying rush hour chase.

Ashley Barnes was behind the wheel of a stolen van when he led police on a lengthy post rush hour pursuit in and around the Mansfield area. The video above shows Barnes driving the wrong way around a roundabout, causing vehicles to swerve out of the way, and repeatedly travelled on the wrong side of the road.

Rammed by runaway van

Cars containing police officers and other motorists alike were rammed by the runaway van, which had a damaged door flapping around throughout.

He also passed through multiple red lights, and Barnes’ driving was so ‘erratic’ that officers took the decision to abort the pursuit.

Operational Support officers initially spotted the van travelling towards Mansfield Woodhouse after receiving reports it had been taken without the owner’s consent.

Stolen van found smashed-up

With the roads still busy around 9.30am on 2 June 2023, Barnes put his foot down on the accelerator, with passenger Laura Tomlinson, 39, sitting in the seat next to him – putting other road users at risk in the process.

Police later tracked down the smashed-up van to Edale Road, Mansfield, where it had been abandoned.

Searches were then carried out of a nearby block of flats, which led to us discovering both Barnes and Tomlinson hiding behind the locked door of a storage room.

Suspended sentence

They both appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (7 May) to be sentenced for their roles in the incident.

40-year-old Barnes, of Vale Road, Mansfield Woodhouse, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was handed a suspended sentence order for 15 months.

Tomlinson, also of Vale Road, was found guilty of being carried in a vehicle without the owner’s consent. She has been handed a Community Order, requiring her to participate in drug rehabilitation.

PC Rachel Evans said: "The standard of driving demonstrated during this incident was completely unacceptable and put everyone else on the roads in danger.

"Thankfully for each of them and for Ashley Barnes too, this wasn't the case, with nobody hurt as a result of his erratic driving decisions that day.

"After Barnes had taken the van, he then collected Laura Tomlinson from a nearby location, before using the vehicle to ram a police car and damage other vehicles during a lengthy pursuit.

"Neither of them were ultimately able to get away with what they'd done however, and we're pleased to see them finally be sentenced for their actions."