Helicopter takes off in man hunt

THE police helicopter was scrambled to search for Stephan Mann, who had been driving a stolen car when over the drink-drive limit, a court has heard. Mann was found in a field at Fordham with two other people, and the Skoda car that was stolen just an hou

THE police helicopter was scrambled to search for Stephan Mann, who had been driving a stolen car when over the drink-drive limit, a court has heard.

Mann was found in a field at Fordham with two other people, and the Skoda car that was stolen just an hour earlier was nearby. Inside the car was Mann's bail sheet - he was due in court just two days later for another offence of taking a car.

Appearing at Ely courthouse on Thursday, 22-year-old Mann, of Windmill Close, Ely, was jailed for a total of four months and banned from driving for one year.

He had previously been found guilty of failing to provide a breath test in Sussex on January 2 and taking a Ford Fiesta car without permission in Ely on June 29. He admitted drink-driving in the Skoda on September 3, and asked magistrates to take into consideration a further offence of driving the Skoda, which was taken without consent.

The drink-drive offence had put him in breach of a three-month suspended sentence imposed in August for an offence of possessing a knife, and he was given another one-month sentence for taking a car without consent.

Prosecuting, Angela Sassoli said a Ford Fiesta taken in Ely late on June 28 had been seen by police in Littleport. Mann was found in the town, and forensic evidence showed he had been in the vehicle.

After Mann's arrest for driving the Skoda, fibres from his sweatshirt matched those found on the driver's seat. His breath test reading was 62 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath, almost double the legal limit of 35 mcgs.

Mitigating, Jacqui Baldwin said Mann had been prescribed anti-depressants, and was due to undergo a full psychiatric assessment in January.