A TRACTOR thief who tried to evade police by hiding among pumpkins has been sentenced at court.
William Ward, 49, failed to stop for police before abandoning the stolen vehicle as they tried to capture him in Outwell, near Wisbech, on July 22 last year.
Following a search involving response officers, the police dog unit and helicopter, he was finally found hiding among pumpkins in a nearby field.
The John Deere tractor had earlier been stolen from a farm in Southery.
Sentencing him at Norwich Crown Court on Friday, Recorder James Wood handed Ward, of Salt’s Road, West Walton, a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 120 hours unpaid work in the community. He had pleased guilty at an earlier hearing.
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