Boy, 11, arrested after driving BMW towing suspected stolen caravan on motorway

Police were 'staggered' to find an 11-year-old child at the wheel of the BMW X5.

STV News

8th Mar 2024

Posted in

Crime

An 11-year-old boy has been arrested after be was stopped driving a BMW X5 towing a suspected stolen caravan on a motorway.

At around 3.30pm on Thursday, March 7, North Yorkshire Police received a call that a caravan had been stolen from a holiday site near Thirsk and was being towed away by a black BMW.

Officers were able to track the BMW, that was also using cloned registration plates, travelling south on the A1.

45 minutes after the caravan was reported stolen, police stopped the vehicle on the M1 after it left the A1 at Hook Moor Interchange near Garforth.

“Nothing prepared us for finding the schoolboy sat at the wheel,” North Yorkshire Police said.

A search of the car revealed equipment typically used by suspects to carry out thefts and a selection of vehicle registration plates.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including theft, burglary, going equipped for theft, and motoring offences including dangerous driving.

He was questioned and has been released on conditional police bail to allow further enquiries to be carried out.

North Yorkshire Police has seen an increase in caravan thefts across the area recently.

“Thanks to the quick work of our skilled roads policing officers, our control room and intelligence team working in the background, the rightful owners have been updated that their caravan had been found,” the force said.

“No-one was injured during the incident.”