Police are searching the country for Britain’s most wanted 12-year-old – who is accused of using a BMW to drive off with a holiday caravan.
The youngster, a member of the travelling community, was due to appear before magistrates last week but failed to attend.
With no permanent address to go to, the court had no option but to issue an arrest warrant for the young fugitive and police are currently scouring the country.
It is now over a year since the boy – who was then aged 11 – was apprehended by police at the wheel of a BMW X5, even though he could barely see over the steering wheel.
The 4×4, which allegedly had cloned number plates, had been towing a caravan for 40 miles along the A1M in North Yorkshire after disappearing from a holiday park in Thirsk.
When police finally caught up with the youngster he had reached the London-bound M1 at Garforth just outside Leeds.
The boy was due to appear before Harrogate Magistrates’ Court on Friday March 14.
A spokesman for the court said: ‘A juvenile was due to appear before Harrogate magistrates charged with theft of a motor vehicle of value unknown, driving it dangerously and handling stolen goods, namely a caravan.
Police are searching the country for Britain’s most wanted 12-year-old – who is accused of using a BMW to drive off with a holiday caravan. Pictured: Officers from North Yorkshire Police stopped the vehicle and found the schoolboy inside last March
The youngster, who is now being hunted by police, was stopped after he left the A1 and began driving up the M1 at Hook Moor Interchange Junction
‘The defendant has not attended and an arrest warrant has been issued.’
People in Thirsk have been awaiting the outcome of the case since the alleged theft happened on March 7 last year.
One local said: ‘The young lad is from the travelling community so it’s taken quite a while to get the case to court, because he and his family move around so are difficult to contact.
‘Now it seems he hasn’t turned up at court so they have issued an arrest warrant – but when there’s no address to serve it, they’re going to have a job on their hands.’
When the caravan was stolen, its owner Janine Forth, of Leeds, took to Facebook, posting: ‘We arrived at the caravan site just as they had hitched it up and were driving away with it.
‘If it [hadn’t] been for quick thinking and the amazing response from the police, god knows what would have happened.’
She added the caravan had ‘all the up to date security’, which was fortunate as she claimed ‘the first thing they did when they broke into it was wreck the front end to get the tracker out’.
‘All I can say is that for those who leave their pets in their caravan whilst they go out, please DON’T! Thank god ours was with us safe,’ she said.
The youngster managed to drive for 40 miles before the police finally caught up with him
The youngster, a member of the travelling community, was due to appear before Harrogate Magistrates’ Court last week but failed to attend
After the theft Sergeant Paul Cording said he ‘struggled to comprehend’ what he found when the car was pulled over, despite having 23 years of service in the police.
Sergeant Cording said: ‘Even after over 23 years service, you come across things that you struggle to comprehend.
‘Like yesterday when some great fast track work from the team identified a recently stolen caravan being towed by a vehicle on false plates, but then to find the driver was only 11 years old!’
The force recommends all owners take measures to try and deter thieves, such as installing CCTV, fitting alarms and tracking devices, and taking good quality photos of their vehicle to help it be identified by police if it is stolen.