4:33 pm, December 3, 2020
A car robber pretended to be a customer then pushed the salesman out of the way to make off in an Audi but was caught by a colleague who drove after him.
An off-duty police officer dropping his car off at TrustFord in Castleford had spotted Duane Cale behaving suspiciously outside the dealership, Leeds Crown Court was told.
The policeman made sure staff were aware of him, reported the Yorkshire Evening Post, and Cale subsequently told a salesman he was interested in finance on an £8,000 Audi A1 as he wanted to buy it for his girlfriend.
Cale, who had been banned from driving, was able to look under the bonnet while the engine was on, but after the salesman lowered the bonnet Cale pushed him out of the way and made off in the car.
The salesman was left suffering trauma, the court was told.
Prosecutor Robert Galley said a colleague saw what had happened and followed Cale in a Ford Focus, boxing him in at a roundabout and pulling him out of the Audi in the incident, which happened on November 3.
Cale, of Churchfield Grove, Rothwell, Leeds, threatened to stab and bite him as the two of them struggled, but police had been called and with members of the public also helping he was arrested.
The 37-year-old admitted robbery and driving while disqualified.
In mitigation, his lawyer Stephen Welford said Cale regretted what he’d done, realised he’d behaved stupidly and intended to mend his ways.
Cale also had aggravated vehicle taking and other motoring offences to his name, according to the Post.
Jailing him for 11 months, Judge Neil Clarke was reported as saying: ‘I get the impression this started out as an attempted theft.
‘You have left that salesman with ongoing psychiatric symptoms. You have a criminal record as long as I have seen for someone of your age.’
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