Police pursuit ends at village's memorial to the fallen

A THIEF who crashed into Marston Green's war memorial on Remembrance Day - following a high-speed chase through local streets - has been jailed.
Grant Gold, 27, had veered into the village landmark following desperate efforts to escape police on November 11 last year.
Court heard that the defendant (pictured) had stolen the Ford Transit from Lundy View, in Kingshurst.
But hours later the vehicle was picked up by automatic number plate recognition technology, near the NEC.
Police caught up with Gold on Bickenhill Parkway and he raced off at speeds of up to 90mph.

During the chase that followed he nearly toppled the van while negotiating roundabouts and bends at well over the speed limit.
Dash-cam footage of the pursuit showed the vehicle career through a single-lane traffic calming, narrowly avoid other cars and mount a pavement.
Entering Marston Green, he ploughed through a fence, over grassland and along a narrow public footpath.
The chase came to an abrupt end when he collided with a smaller van in Station Road, and dazed from the impact, veered into the war memorial.
Gold, of Skye Close, Smith's Wood, was arrested running away and went on to admit aggravated vehicle taking − a charge that encompasses dangerous driving − plus vehicle theft.
At Birmingham Crown Court this month, he was jailed for 22 months and banned from driving for three years.
PC Sarah Harvey, from Solihull Police, said: "Gold placed many road users and pedestrians at risk due to the nature of his driving − it’s lucky that no-one was seriously hurt or killed.
"He admitted taking the van and dropping two unknown accomplices at the NEC ... knowing they were intending to steal another car.
"However, we suspect Gold is likely to have been responsible for other car thefts and I am sure we’ll see a reduction in such offences with him behind bars."
Police are still trying to trace the other two offenders, who had stolen a Ford Focus.