Colchester Greenstead crash: Teen’s message after joyriding Mercedes.

A TEENAGER involved in stealing and joyriding a £38,000 car messaged a friend, boasting that they sped at 70mph through Greenstead before “crashing hard” into a Tesco Express.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, was one of three boys accused of burgling an address on Queen Elizabeth Way in June. Footage shown in Colchester Youth Court showed two other defendants, aged 13 and 15, carrying large knives as they entered the house and stole a set of keys to a Mercedes.

The car’s owners were sleeping upstairs with their young children when the three boys entered the downstairs living room, one of whom grabbed an internal CCTV camera.

The boys left the address around 4.15 a.m. and threw the camera on the ground before reversing out of the driveway and driving away.

While they were in the car, a child’s car seat and other items were thrown out the window before the Mercedes GLA collided with a Tesco Express on Bromley Road around 5.30am.

Five boys, including the three defendants, fled the scene, while neighbours awakened by the crash called the cops. Last month, a 13-year-old was sentenced to a referral order after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated burglary with intent and being carried on a stolen vehicle.

A 15-year-old who will face trial in January admitted to being carried on a vehicle taken without consent but denies aggravated burglary.

The 15-year-old appeared in Colchester Youth Court on Friday and admitted to the same charges. Two other youths who were in the car remain on bail and are being investigated by police.

Prosecutor Paul Brown stated that police recovered an SD card from a camera left on the ground outside the house, allowing officers to view footage of the break-in.

The defendant’s mother, who sat beside him, began crying as the prosecution presented its case against her son. Mr Brown also presented the court with a message sent from the defendant’s Instagram account, which read:

“Just stained a mercedeze, doing 70 in gsted den brakes didn’t work.” The message continued: “Went 60 into Tesco bruv, and we crashed hard.” It has not been determined who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence.

Robert Batchelor, mitigating, admitted the offences were “heinous and horrendous,” but claimed the defendant played a minor role in comparison to the other two teenagers.

He stated, “The defendant does not enter that building with a knife, for example. “According to the pre-sentence report, the defendant’s mother believes he has ADHD and other learning difficulties.

“He does not seem to be the instigator and the report seems to suggest he would easily be pressured into being led by others.” Magistrates sentenced the teenager to a one-year youth referral order and a one-year restraining order prohibiting him from entering Queen Elizabeth Way.

He was also banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay £85 in costs, plus a victim surcharge of £26.

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