Moment teenage joyrider drives wrong way through Blackwall Tunnel in stolen Range Rover
3 May 2022, 09:05
Stolen car seen driving the wrong way through the Blackwall Tunnel
This is the shocking moment a teenage joyrider drove the wrong way through the Blackwall Tunnel in a stolen Range Rover before causing a head-on crash.
Johal Rathour, 18, has been jailed for four years after the "dangerous" and "distressing" incident in the early hours of August, 6 last year.
Rathour, of Bridge Road, Grays, was arrested after causing a head-on crash shortly after 4am, despite trying to flee the scene on foot.
The driver of the Mercedes van Rathour crashed into suffered no serious injuries, but he caused £80,000 of damage to the van and the stolen Range Rover.
Transport for London also lost £585,000 of revenue due to Blackwall Tunnel having to shut for more than two hours during rush hour traffic.
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Rathour ran away from the scene of the crash but was arrested a short time later after officers forensically identified him and tracked his mobile phone.
After he was charged with the offences, Rathour failed to attend court.
He was subsequently tracked down and arrested in January this year.
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Police Constable Adam Lamb, the investigating officer in the case, said it was a "miracle" nobody was seriously injured.
He said Rathour was guilty of an "incredibly dangerous piece of driving".
"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," he said.
"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 Blackwell Tunnel on the day of the crash.
"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.
