A MAN was caught after a stolen car, which had been used in a burglary, crashed.

Bolton Crown Court heard that Patrick Boswell and others were approached to get rid of an Audi car which had been used in a burglary carried out at a house in Park Road, Westhoughton, on April 15, 2016.

But the £26,000 vehicle crashed at the junction of Wood Street and Harvey Street, Elton, later that day and 26-year-old Boswell was arrested nearby.

At Bolton Crown Court Boswell was sentenced to two years in prison for handling the vehicle and allowing himself to be carried in it as well as an attempted burglary of a pensioner in Milnow in March last year and attempted theft from an 81-year-old woman who has Alzheimer’s Disease, in Shaw the following month.

The theft was foiled by the woman’s granddaughter who arrived to find Boswell sitting watching television with the pensioner in the kitchen.

Boswell, a married father, also admitted going on the run after failing to turn up for his trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in April.

Richard Orme, defending, said Boswell’s mother was so concerned about his health, affected by his Type 1 Diabetes and chaotic use of crack cocaine, that she turned him into police.

Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Boswell, of Pringle Street, Rochdale, to two years in prison and banned him from driving for 20 months.

The judge said that while Boswell must have known that being asked to dispose of a high-value car meant it must have been used in a crime, he did not know the nature of it and had not been involved in the burglary.