Teenager jailed after driving wrong way through London's Blackwall Tunnel


Paul Carey
  • English
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A teenage driver has been sentenced to four years in jail after driving a stolen Range Rover the wrong way through the Blackwell Tunnel, one of the main arteries into London.

His actions caused a head-on collision.

Johal Rathour, 18, of Grays, East London, was identified by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Road and Transport Policing Command after he caused the crash in the early hours of August 6, 2021.

No serious injuries were caused to the driver of the Mercedes van he crashed into.

However, Rathour caused £80,000 of damage to the van and the stolen Range Rover he was driving and a loss of revenue of £585,000 to Transport for London, due to Blackwall Tunnel having to be shut for more than two hours during rush-hour traffic.

Rathour ran away from the scene of the crash, but was arrested a short time later after officers forensically identified him and tracked his mobile phone.

After he was charged with the offences, Rathour failed to attend court. He was subsequently tracked down and arrested by RTPC officers in January this year.

Police Constable Adam Lamb, the investigating officer in the case, said: "Rathour was guilty of an incredibly dangerous piece of driving and it was a miracle that nobody was seriously injured.

"Watching the video of him driving the wrong way through the tunnel is very distressing as it seems inevitable that a fatal collision would happen.

"As well as the damage to the stolen vehicle and the van he collided with, Rathour also disrupted and delayed the journeys of thousands of people using Blackwell Tunnel on the day of the crash."

Spain drain

CONVICTED

Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.

Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.

Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.

 

SUSPECTED

Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.

Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.

Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.

Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.

Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.

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Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

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Updated: May 03, 2022, 10:05 AM