Indian origin teenager sentenced to 4 years in jail after he races stolen SUV wrong way inside tunnel ending up in crash
Indian origin John Rathour crashed a stolen Range Rover SUV in the early hours of August 6 last year and raced it in the wrong way inside Blackwall Tunnel before crashing into a van.
An Indian origin teenager John Rathour was sentenced to 4 years in jail after he was found guilty of racing a stolen Range Rover SUV in the wrong way through London’s Blackwall Tunnel before finally ending up in a crash with a Mercedes van.
Luckily, no one was injured in the accident. CCTV cameras captured him racing in the wrong way through the tunnel, the same video went viral on social media.
John Rathour was identified by the Metropolitan Police’s Road and Transport Policing Command after he caused the crash in the early hours of August 6 last year using mobile tracking forensics as he had fled soon after the crash. He was sentenced to 4 years of jail this Friday by St. Albans Crown Court in north London.
“Rathour was guilty of an incredibly dangerous piece of driving and it was a miracle that nobody was seriously injured,” said Police Constable Adam Lamb, the investigating officer in the case.
“Watching the video of him driving the wrong way through the tunnel is very distressing as it seems inevitable that a fatal collision would happen. As well as the damage to the stolen vehicle and the van he collided with, Rathour also disrupted and delayed the journeys of thousands of people using Blackwall Tunnel on the day of the crash,” he said.
“I am glad that he has faced justice for his actions and will not be able to drive on the roads of London for many years,” he added.
80,000 GBP worth of damage was caused to the owner of the Mercedes van and a total revenue loss of GBP 585,000 was caused to transport of London as the busy tunnel had to be shutdown for more than 2 hours during rush hour.
