Forklift man who went on city rampage is jailed

A man who rampaged through York at the wheel of an eight-ton forklift truck, leaving a "trail of destruction", was jailed for six years yesterday.

Ray Wilson, 22, stole the Caterpillar forklift with the aim of driving it to his mother's home in Liverpool, York Crown Court heard. Wilson, of no fixed address, led police on a five-mile pursuit through the city. In the process, he injured six people, including three police officers, and damaged a police van and six cars.

Nigel Wray, representing the prosecution, said Wilson began his rampage when he rammed the forks of the truck into a police van. He then set off through the city centre on the truck, which has a top speed of 25mph, often driving on the wrong side of the road. At one point, he used the forks to lift a police stinger device out of the way.

Wilson later told officers he had learnt to drive the fork-ift from an instruction manual.

Nicholas Barker, the lawyer for the defence, said Wilson was a troubled young man who had a disturbed childhood and also suffered from a personality disorder which meant he was incapable of experiencing guilt.

Wilson had pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, criminal damage and recklessly endangering 14 lives.