Watch as thugs in a stolen van ram police car into a barrier at 70mph

Shocking footage shows the moment a van rammed a police car during a high-speed chase on a highway.

The vehicle’s passenger even live-streamed the ferocious 70mph crash as it occurred.

A squad of four police cars tried to surround the white van on the M1 in Nottinghamshire after it was stolen from an address in Sheffield.

A police car went flying into the barrier on the side of the road when the van pushed it aside.

Another car on the freeway was also damaged after a wheel flew off the damaged vehicle and crashed into it.

The two men in the van (bottom right) were later arrested after being forced off the road in Yorkshire.

More than £100,000 in damage was caused by the actions of the two men in the van, aged 24 and 19, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Although the car was damaged beyond repair, the two policemen inside escaped serious injuries.

The van was eventually stopped after it collided with spikes placed in the road by officers near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

The men were arrested and the stolen kitchen equipment was recovered from the van.

Footage of the terror accident was released in December 2021 after the two men, Robert Wingate, 24, and Deimantas Palaima, 19, were jailed.

Driver Wingate pleaded guilty to tampering with stolen property, aggravated taking of a vehicle, two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and four counts of criminal damage.

He was jailed for three years and nine months, to be served after the end of his current sentence.

Palaima, who gestured to officers and filmed the accident as his car left the road, “encouraged Wingate to drive as he did,” the court was told.

The teen pleaded guilty to handling stolen property, aggravated taking of a vehicle (being transported), two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, and one count of criminal mischief.

Police said the two officers in the car that crashed off the road at 70 mph were lucky they were not seriously injured.

He was jailed and banned from driving for 25 months each.

The two men were described as “posing an enormous risk to the general public.”

Detective Sergeant Matt Dumbrell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It’s a miracle our two officers who were rammed off the road were not seriously injured.”

‘This dangerous driving showed complete disregard for the safety of others using the road and put the lives of others at serious risk.

“It was only thanks to the determined teamwork of the police that the van was brought to a stop before it caused any further damage.

“I am pleased that Wingate and Palaima have now been locked up and I hope that the sentences they have received give them a chance to consider their actions.”