A burglar who was caught driving a stolen car while more than four times the legal drink drive limit has been disqualified for four years.

Billy Stratton, 22, was arrested near Wisbech on 5 March after he was caught driving a car he had stolen from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk the previous evening.

At just gone 11pm, response officers on patrol in Wisbech heard over their radio that a suspected stolen car was travelling on the A47 from Thorney towards Guyhirn.

The officers spotted the grey Fiat Punto drive by them on the A47 at Guyhirn, so spun around to catch up with it while witnessing it swerving across lanes and almost colliding with oncoming traffic.

The police car’s blue lights were activated, signalling for the driver of the Punto to pull over, which it did.

Stratton, who got out of the driver’s seat and smelt strongly of alcohol, was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and possession of cannabis after 24 zip-locked ‘deal’ bags of the drug were found under the front passenger seat.

He was further arrested after he blew 150 in a roadside breath test – more than four times the legal limit of 35 – and a check on the Police National Computer (PNC) revealed he was disqualified from driving until 2026.

Enquiries by Norfolk police revealed Stratton had entered a home in Lawn Avenue, Great Yarmouth, the previous evening via an unlocked door and helped himself to a set of car keys before driving off in the Fiat Punto.

He was caught on CCTV at a McDonalds drive-through in the town using the stolen car the following night, before heading into Cambridgeshire where he was arrested.

Stratton, of Chaucer Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, appeared at Norwich Crown Court yesterday (Thursday) where he was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for 18 months, and disqualified from driving for four years after previously admitting nine offences:

Burglary including theft of car keys in Lawn Avenue, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on March 4

  • Theft of a grey Fiat Punto from Lawn Avenue, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on March 4

  • Driving without insurance in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on March 4

  • Driving while disqualified in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on March 4

  • Driving without insurance in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on March 4

  • Driving while disqualified in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on March 5

  • Being in possession of cannabis in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on March 5

  • Driving while unfit through alcohol in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on March 5

  • Failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis on March 6

He must complete a 10-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR), 120 days alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.

PC Joshua Yeomans, who made the arrest, said: “This was a good case of us being in the right time at the right place, unluckily for Stratton.

“Through joint working with our colleagues in Norfolk, we were able to secure multiple charges against him and put him before the courts, resulting in him being required to complete a number of conditions to support him and hopefully steer him away from crime.”

Advice about how to best protect your home and vehicles from thieves can be found on the force’s dedicated crime prevention webpages.