Man sentenced for driving and theft offences
Main article content
Pictured: Charlie Barrett
A man has been sentenced for multiple driving offences after evading police and injuring an officer in the process.
Charlie Barrett, aged 21 and of St Mary’s Road, Stalham appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court on 18 April 2026 where he pleaded guilty to four counts of driving whilst disqualified, four counts of driving without insurance, dangerous driving, two counts of taking a vehicle without consent, handling stolen goods, assault of a police officer in the execution of his duty and possession of a class B drug, namely cannabis resin. He was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on 19 June 2026 to a year in a Young Offenders Institution and further disqualified from driving for 20 months.
The sentence follows a series of incidents in March and April 2026 where Barrett has been found to be driving multiple stolen vehicles whilst disqualified from driving.
On 25 March 2026, officers were on patrol on Mile Cross Road, Norwich when a Toyota RAV 4 was spotted with cloned number plates. The vehicle failed to stop for police with two men abandoning the car and running from the scene. The car was confirmed to have been stolen from Bromley and a forensic examination found Barrett’s fingerprints inside the driver’s internal door, alongside his bank card in the centre console.
On 29 March 2026, officers saw Barrett driving a Ford Focus, again on cloned number plates, on George Pope Road, Norwich. Barrett abandoned the car and again ran from the scene. Forensic examination confirmed Barrett’s fingerprints were located inside the vehicle. The car was confirmed as stolen from Essex.
On 15 April 2026, an off-duty officer observed a man riding a motorbike and recognised that man to be Barrett. The following day (16 April) officers sighted the same bike, which was being ridden on cloned numberplates on Watton Road, Norwich, where they attempted to stop the rider whilst in stationary traffic. The rider accelerated towards the officers, colliding with the marked police car and the open door, hitting the officer standing behind it. As one of the officers grabbed the rider, he continued to accelerate, dragging the officer down the road and causing significant grazing to their arm.
Further enquiries led officers to an address where they arrested Barrett on 17 April 2026 for multiple driving offences. He was taken to Aylsham Police Investigation Centre for questioning and later remanded into custody.
Last week (19 June 2026), he has been sentenced to a year in a young offenders institution.
Investigating officer, PC Domynyk Belcher said: “Barrett has shown a persistent and blatant disregard for the law, repeatedly placing both the public and himself at serious risk through his behaviour.
“Despite being disqualified from driving, he continued to get behind the wheel of stolen vehicles, evade police and use cloned number plates in an attempt to avoid detection. This pattern of offending dangerously escalated when his actions directly resulted in a police officer being injured while carrying out their duties.”