Gareth Twigg, aged 23, of Fraquhar road, Maltby, received a nine months jail sentence after he pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown.
Twigg, admitted he stole the digger from a construction site compound in Rugby, Warwickshire back in July. He also admitted to damaging the compound fence which he drove the digger though as well as dangerous driving. For which he was also banned for 18 months.
His arrest was made following a low-speed police chase, a court heard.
Sarah Pedley, prosecuting said the project manager for Taylor Woodrow was at work when Twigg climbed in the cab of a £30,000 JCB digger.
Police were alerted and eventually spotted Twigg after he drove the digger though the centre of Clifton-on-Dunsmore village.
He was then followed for 100 yards , while police tried to stop him as he continued driving whilst on his mobile phone. He then jumped from the still moving digger.
The JCB kept going, and finally drifted onto the offside of the road into the path of any oncoming traffic.
Officers then managed to get onto the digger and stop it before it caused any serious injury. They then arrested Twigg who told them: “Someone dropped me off and put me up to it.”
Judge Griffith-Jones said breaking into sites and stealing heavy plant has become more common and needs deterring.
She told Twigg: “This is valuable equipment which is being stolen, although I have no doubt you were a front line stooge on behalf of others. But we move onto some which in reality is more serious still, because you were on a public road without any proficiency in how to drive this. You then jumped off the slow-moving but large piece of machinery and put at risk any car which may have been coming in the opposite direction.”
It’s incidents like this that put you and other drivers at risk. If the police wouldn’t have managed to stop the vehicle then it could have caused some serious injuries.