Prompt police action stops car thief in their tracks

What started out as a report of a theft of an unattended car in Thirsk, quickly turned into an arrest and charges for the theft of a motor vehicle, driving whilst disqualified and without insurance, and failing to provide.

Ben Slater, 36, from Lingfoot Crescent, Sheffield, has been disqualified from driving for two years at Harrogate's Magistrates Court on Friday 16 January 2026.

Slater has been ordered to pay a fine of £120, pay costs of £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service and a victim surcharge of £114. As well as these fines, Slater has been ordered to attend an alcohol rehabilitation programme.

Slater pleaded guilty to the following offences on Thursday 23 October 2025 at Harrogate's Magistrates Court: theft of motor vehicle, driving whilst disqualified, using a car without insurance, and failing to provide a specimen for analysis. Slater was given a driving ban until his sentencing.

Just before 8pm on Wednesday 8 October, a delivery driver left their car running whilst they went into a takeaway shop on the Market Place to collect some orders.

Only a few minutes later, the driver returned to find their car had been stolen by Slater.

Officers spotted the vehicle exiting the A1(M) at junction 48 and followed it until it came to stop at a petrol station on Wetherby Road at Boroughbridge.

As Slater began to fill up the car with fuel, he was intercepted by officers and arrested.

Slater blew more than double the drink-drive limit on a roadside breath kit, giving a reading of 74 micrograms of alcohol in a 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 micrograms. He failed to provide a breath sample in custody and was therefore charged with failing to provide a specimen as well.

Detective Inspector Nick Hamer, from our Investigation Hub in Harrogate, said: "Both the arresting officers and my colleagues in the Investigation Hub have done a phenomenal job apprehending and charging Slater as quickly as they did.

"We know all too well the consequences of drink driving but thankfully we intercepted before Slater could cause any harm."