Carjacking vehicle recovered after Star appeal (From St Helens Star)

Carjacking vehicle recovered after Star appeal

12:46pm Monday 9th November 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

A VEHICLE taken during a terrifying carjacking was found following an appeal for information by the St Helens Star.

The Vauxhall Corsa was discovered abandoned in a Rainhill estate after we reported how owner Richard Tigwell had been dragged out of it by masked thugs.

Star readers called police to tell them a car matching the description had been left at Stonecross Drive, off Mill Lane, Rainhill, within hours of our exclusive report being published.

The vehicle, which had been locked by the crooks, has since undergone forensic examinations.

The Star told how Richard was thrown from his car by two men who minutes earlier had crashed a stolen black Audi on a slip lane leading off the Liverpool-bound M62 during a police pursuit.

The duo fled from the smashed up vehicle – that struck another car and railings - before flinging the 26-year-old from the driver’s seat of his Vauxhall Corsa.

The frightening ordeal unfolded as Richard was stopped in traffic near to the motorway’s Rainhill Stoops junction shortly before 6pm on Friday (October 23).

Reports have emerged since suggesting another police chase of different high-powered vehicle – suspected of being stolen – that took place in Rainhill on the same night.

It is understood detectives are probing whether there is a link.

Speaking to the Star a fortnight ago about his ordeal, Richard said: “I was coming off the motorway and I could see in my rear view mirror this Audi that was spinning after its tyres had blown out.

“I moved may car out of the way – but it hit the one next to me. The next thing I knew these two lads jumped out, both of whom were wearing balaclavas.

“They moved around to the front of my car and I tried to move car off because I realised they would try to jump in.

“But one of them had opened the door and had his foot in my car. I was screaming ‘get out of my car’.

“But then this set of arms came around me – and I thought ‘this is not worth it’. They jumped in my car and sped away.”

Distressed Richard, a Carphone Warehouse employee from Rainhill, suffered muscle damage to his neck and shoulder and was treated for shock by paramedics.

He added: “It was just sheer terror and it all happened so quickly, you just don’t think something like that will happen to you.

“At this stage I’m not even sure whether police have recovered my car.”

Anyone who witnessed the carjacking or with information that could help the police investigation is asked to contact St Helens CID on 0151 777 1565 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)