Prolific young criminal jailed for having knives and dangerous driving

A teenager who stole food from a Co-op in Brighton and drove dangerously as he fled from police has been jailed.

The offences were among several committed by 18-year-old Arthur Greenslade over the past few years and which landed him with a 10-month sentence.

Greenslade went shoplifting at the Co-op, in Old London Road, Patcham, on Tuesday 9 May, stealing food worth £45.

Sussex Police said that shop staff reported the theft and the number plate of the Vauxhall Corsa being driven by Greenslade was also reported to police.

The force said: “Officers from the Roads Policing Unit were able to identify a suspect vehicle a short while later in Lewes Road, Brighton.

“The vehicle drove away from officers at high speed and through a red light.”

Lydia Stephens, prosecuting, told Lewes Crown Court: “Officers see that vehicle on the M23 and there’s a pursuit. The defendant’s driving falls well below that of a competent driver.”

The judge who sentenced Greenslade, Recorder Alan Gardner, said: “The car swerved across lanes. There were numerous other road users on the road.

“The car drove down a slip road – not for public use – and the occupants got out and fled. The defendant was pursued and arrested. He had a lock knife in his pocket.”

Sussex Police said that armed police, from the Tactical Firearms Unit, joined traffic police on the M23, “where the vehicle continued to drive erratically, swerving across lanes of busy traffic.”

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter was called in and helped track Greenslade to a slip road near King’s Cross Lane, near Reigate.

Although Greenslade and his three passengers fled into the surrounding fields, all four were caught and arrested.

It wasn’t the first time that Greenslade had led police in a high-speed car chase, the court was told.

Residents in Beachcroft Place, Lancing, called the police on Tuesday 18 October last year because, the judge said, a yellow Peugeot 106 “had been seen driving erratically”.

A police community support officer (PCSO) drove to the scene and, the judge said, Greenslade “suddenly reversed at speed and rammed the police car several times before making off”.

Sussex Police said: “Fortunately the PCSO was not harmed. Greenslade was spotted driving on the A264 towards Horsham where he failed to stop for police.

“Footage then shows him driving into oncoming traffic at excess speed as well as through red lights and the wrong way around a roundabout.

“Specialist officers from Sussex Police’s Roads Policing Unit, Tactical Firearms Unit and Dogs Unit worked together to bring the vehicle safely to a stop at about 2am on Wednesday 19 October on the A259, Brighton Road, Shoreham.”

Miss Stephens said that police deployed a stinger-type device to bring the chase to an end.

Chief Inspector Sarah Leadbeatter, the district commander for Adur and Worthing, said: “This incident shows some of the challenges faced by our officers and PCSOs on a daily basis.

“They acted swiftly to bring the suspect vehicle safely to a stop and prevent it from posing a risk of harm to other road users. The officers then detained those inside the vehicle.”

Days later, Greenslade was found with a lock knife on him at the beach in Lancing. He has admitted the offence and was due to be sentenced in a youth court.

Greenslade was again stopped in Adastra Park, in Keymer Road and Orchard Lane, Hassocks, after fleeing from a vehicle on Saturday 11 February this year. When police caught and searched him, they again found a lock knife in one of his pockets.

Seven weeks later, on Friday 31 March, he terrorised David Mumford, the duty manager of a branch of the takeaway chain Taco Bell, in Orpington, south east London.

Recorder Gardner said: “The defendant was one of a group of three males who entered the shop. The manager, Mr Mumford, told the males to leave. They did. He locked the door.

“He then describes – and I have seen it on the CCTV footage – one of the males throwing a chair at the shop window, causing it to smash.

“The three males gained entry and assaulted Mr Mumford by punching him to the head and body.

“This was a violent and frightening attack on Mr Mumford in his place of work and on property in a public place – a high street at night. The defendant was part of a violent and threatening group.”

When the police arrived, he assaulted two officers, stamping on the leg and foot of one and kicking another.

Nicholas Hamblin, defending, said that Greenslade was immature for his age, had an unstable upbringing and had been in and out of care.

Miss Stephens told the court that, before the two-day sentencing hearing, Greenslade already had 11 previous convictions for 34 offences.

And Sussex Police said that the latest string of offences were “incidents where he put the safety of the public and police officers and his own safety at risk”.

Recorder Gardner said, as he sentenced Greenslade on Friday 11 August, that he had “a bad record of serious offending”.

He took into account his age, the guilty pleas to 19 offences and other mitigating factors – and banned him from driving for two years and five months.

But Greenslade was assessed “as posing a high risk of serious harm, bearing in mind his violent offending, offences involving weapons and motoring offences which cause risk to himself and others”.

A pre-sentence report concluded that there was a high likelihood of reoffending and the judge said: “I agree.”

He said that he was imposing the sentences, 10 months in total, as “a last resort”, adding: “I have come to the view that the only sentences I can pass are custodial sentences.”

Greenslade had a poor history of compliance with court orders and had been held on remand for three months, since May, the court was told.

The judge said that he had passed the sentence after a great deal of careful thought and in line with the guidelines laid down by the Sentencing Council.

Greenslade was expected to be moved from Lewes Prison to a young offender institution and to be released on licence by the middle of October.