Police release dramatic footage of chase through picturesque Yorkshire villages near Castle Howard after gang burgled farms and holiday park

Three men who had travelled into Ryedale to steal quad bikes and machinery from farms and a holiday park have now been jailed at York Crown Court following a pursuit that saw police cars rammed and a farming family even chase after the burglars themselves.

Cross-border thieves Charlie Dunn, 25, and Jack Setchell, 23, of Hartlepool, were each sent to prison for four years after admitting offences including house burglaries, farm building break-ins, theft of a quad bike, vehicle thefts and assaulting a police officer.

They have also been banned from driving for five years and three months and five years respectively, and both must take extended driving tests.

A 19-year-old man from County Durham, Kieran Connor, was the third member of the gang and the judge acknowledged he was of ‘low intelligence’ and handed him 300 hours of unpaid work instead of jailing him.

The trio went on a crime spree around picturesque villages Amotherby, Great Habton, Little Habton, Kirby Misperton and Slingsby on the morning of June 2 last year.

They first broke into a farmhouse, taking keys and driving off with a Ford Fiesta and a quad bike with a crop sprayer attached.

The owners bravely gave chase in another car, and spotted a Transit van nearby and the Fiesta – which at 3am was rammed into them as the farmers attempted to block the road.

The three men left the Fiesta and ran off towards the River Rye. The burglary victims ran after them and caught one, but he managed to get away. By 5.45am, a report came in that the Transit had been stolen from a property at Great Habton. It was spotted at 7am heading along the A169 through Kirby Misperton with three men inside, and was towing an orange wood chipper which became detached as the van turned onto the road.

The wood chipper, tools and machinery had all been stolen from a nearby holiday park. Despite being pursued, the gang stopped the van, turned around and retrieved the machine – despite a police officer telling driver Charlie Dunn to get out of the vehicle. Instead, he drove off while the officer’s arm was inside the open door.

A major pursuit then began, with the same officer’s car then rammed twice by Dunn on a country lane. It then reversed into another police car, which became too damaged to continue.

The van sped past The Grapes pub in Great Habton, smashed through a metal gate into fields, and got stuck in a corner near a hedgerow. The presence of loose horses in the field meant the dog unit could not be sent in, and tracks suggested the group had abandoned the van and escaped on foot.

They were then spotted inside a black BMW X3 heading south, this time driven by Jack Setchell, who rammed into two more police vehicles before heading over a gravel track towards Coneysthorpe, another Castle Howard estate village. It was spotted on Castle Howard Road travelling towards Slingsby, but just before 8am one of the police vehicles collided with another car.

Finally, the BMW crashed through a fence in Slingsby and the three men ran off. Members of the public spotted them in a field at the end of a campsite, and Kieran Connor was arrested in a bush beside a water treatment plant. Charlie Dunn and Jack Setchell were found near the village hall.

Detective Constable Abbi Symes said: “The series of crimes committed by Dunn, Setchell and Connor on the morning of 2 June last year are shocking and disgraceful.

“Not only did they ruthlessly target rural communities in Ryedale without any hint of remorse, they also endangered the lives of police officers who were called in to help the burglary and vehicle theft victims.

“In the wrong hands a motor vehicle can be a deadly weapon, and it is plain to see that Dunn and Setchell were more than willing to reverse ram the police vehicles in their effort to evade arrest and escape justice.

“Despite the extensive upset, anger and damage they inflicted that morning, North Yorkshire Police would not let them get away with it.

“Dunn and Setchell are now facing up to the reality of life in prison, and Connor has been made subject to the most severe community order for his role in the offences.”