In the last year, nearly 7,000 cars have been stolen in Sheffield. But how many people know anything about the joyriders? A Children's Express team talked to a former car thief to find out what motivated him.
| A joyrider crashed into a tree and broke both his legs. A month later he was going out joyriding again on crutches. |
Friday night in Sheffield and the sound of screeching tyres signals the start of the weekend. The joy riders are out in force - some of them as young as twelve.
Chris Dixon, now twenty, knows what it's like. He stole his first car, an XR2, in the middle of Pitsmoor. He too was twelve.
"It was a nice black one actually, three sport alloys," he said. "At first I was nervous but then we started driving right fast and that was it, I wasn't bothered then. We all used to do it for the same reason - so we could nick cars and go race each other - get chased by the police. I used to like the danger, I used to like the fear of driving fast."
His favourites were Porsches and BMWs - they were "more of a challenge to pinch."
"Once we were in a turbo, 2 litre injection. Really nice it was. We got chased by an Orion, then the big police car started to chase us. We ended up smashing into a brick wall, jumped out and ran off. All three of us got away."
Indeed, contrary to what most people think, far from deterring joy riders, a police car chasing them adds to the thrill.
"That's what you do it for," he said. "Ninety per cent of joy riders will look for the police so they'll get chased. And the police have got to do it, haven't they? It's their job."
Chris said he started joyriding "for the buzz." Later on he learned he could earn money at it, so started stealing cars to order.
"We used to strip the car down, take the plates out, put new plates in that would have serial numbers on. There's a swapshop where all the nicked cars go. We used to go in there and buy a car, rob a car and then turn that scrapper into a brand new one."
He claims his car theft earned him 1,000 a week at the age of 14.
"It was a nice way of getting money, a 14-year-old lad with a grand a week, more money than sense," he said. "We used to nick a car, go to Skeggy and spend a couple of grand in a day or two, just on arcades and amusements. Because the police don't go nationwide they wouldn't look for it down Skeggy."
Victims
And did he never think about the effect on his victims?
"No, not interested. It's their own fault for not putting proper stuff in to stop nicking."
Peter Willocks, a city youth justice worker, spends a lot of his time trying to help people like Chris who have fallen into the joy riding "habit".
He believes teenagers often take up joyriding as a way of escaping the reality of poverty, boredom or problems at home - but it can also be lethal.
"I know of one case where a joy rider crashed into a tree and broke both his legs," he said. "A month later he was going out joyriding again on crutches. It becomes a habit that's hard to break."
Most joyriders get a caution for their first offence, after that they can get a supervision order and finally comes a custodial sentence for the most serious offenders. Youth justice workers like Peter try to tackle the problem in other ways.
They discuss any problems at home or school and in more severe cases the offenders undergo a rehabilitation programme at the Archway Centre in Upperthorpe. The programme goes in for shock tactics, such as videos about life in prison and interviews with people whose children or relatives have been killed through joyriding.
"We also try to show them the effect on their own family," said Peter. "It's very upsetting for parents to think that their children are involved in this kind of activity."
As for Chris, car crime is history and not a habit he'd recommend - he was eventually jailed for a month for taking cars without consent or "twocking". Now he's a chef and much happier with his life.
"I wouldn't advise anyone to do it, it's stupid. At the end of the day it's playing about with people's lives."
About the team
This story was produced by editors Anna Bradshaw, 15, Karina Gibson, Anneka Gibson, Katie Parker, 14, and reporters Nichola Bevan and Fiona Hanson, 13. It was published in the Sheffield Star.
