Drunk Teenager Steals Double Decker Bus

A drunken teenager stole two buses and drove a Stagecoach double-decker 60 miles in an attempt to visit his heavily-pregnant girlfriend, a court heard.

He was intercepted on a motorway by police after calling into a service station for cigarettes which he asked to be put "on the Stagecoach account".

The 17-year-old had been heading along the M6 in Cumbria towards Scotland and was found to be almost twice over the drink-drive limit.

He had only been released from custody 12 hours earlier after stealing another bus from the Stagecoach depot in Barrow-in-Furness.

On the first occasion he had drunk five pints and 10 cans of lager and was arrested after driving the wrong way around a roundabout and crashing through a fence.

John Appleby, prosecuting, told Barrow Youth court that within 48 hours police received a call from a member of staff at a Little Chef in Penrith concerned about a bus being driven by someone "very young".

A police patrol followed the teenager, who cannot be named as a juvenile, for several miles as he drove the 14-ton vehicle on the motorway.

Maureen Fawcett, defending, told the court: "He is a very, very young 17-year-old and a foolish one, he said he took the first bus to commit suicide."

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted two counts of aggravated vehicle taking, attempted deception, failing to stop, dangerous driving, drink driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

He was sent to a detention centre for 12 months and banned him from driving for two years.

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