Super car getaway driver facing long jail term

One of the most notorious getaway drivers in the Midlands was today facing a long prison term after leading four police forces on a five-month-long, 1,500-mile chase.

A £7,300 haul of cigarettes from Sainsbury's in Market Drayton was just part of the £50,000 worth of cash and goods snatched by Ben Westwood and a gang of thieves during the spree.

Westwood, of Woden Road, Wednesfield, used a stolen £85,000 super car that was among only two of its kind in the country to keep out of the reach of the law during the crime spree.

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He has now been convicted of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to steal after a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court and is in custody awaiting sentence.

Four other men arrested after a bungled petrol station garage ATM raid have each either admitted or been convicted of conspiracy to steal in connection with that raid and are due to be sentenced alongside him this month.

The acceleration of the specially modified Audi RS5 allowed Westwood to repeatedly escape from pursing police cars while committing at least 15 smash and grab raids that netted over £50,000 worth of cigarettes along with cash and jewellery.

He even managed to out run the West Midland Police helicopter by hurtling along the M6 at 180mph. He was caught after detectives uncovered a tell-tale pattern of crime across the Midlands.

Officers combing CCTV film from security cameras at a string of similar raids committed in Staffordshire and the West Midlands spotted a white Audi with distinctive grill and tell-tale sports wheels in the vicinity of all the crimes while displaying different false number plates.

The luxury saloon matched a vehicle stolen in a car key burglary in Stourport on August 3, 2011. The Audi had an Lamborghini engine, special panoramic glass roof and racing car brakes.