E-bike robber found in car boot jailed

A robber who was found by police pretending to be asleep in a car boot has been jailed alongside two other men.

Sam Kitchen was discovered in an Audi by officers after the vehicle crashed into a boulder at Manvers Lake in Rotherham following a high-speed police pursuit on 20 July 2025, South Yorkshire Police said.

The car had earlier been used to knock a cyclist off his e-bike, which was then stolen by Kitchen and two others, on Westfield Road in the Brampton area of the town.

Dale Cheatham, who had driven the Audi, his front-seat passenger Christopher Ogley and Kitchen were all sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for the robbery on Tuesday.

South Yorkshire Police said officers had sighted the Audi and requested it stop within 20 minutes of the e-bike being stolen, but the car failed to do so.

After a pursuit in which the Audi narrowly avoided colliding with other vehicles, it crashed at Manvers Lake.

Cheatham and Ogley made off on foot but were caught nearby.

Officers then found Kitchen, who was later identified on CCTV footage having got into the boot before the car made off with the bike.

All three men pleaded guilty to robbery, while Cheatham admitted an additional charge of dangerous driving.

Cheatham, aged 30 and of no fixed abode, was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for five years and six months.

Ogley, aged 38, of Furlong Road in Bolton-upon-Dearne, was jailed for three years and nine months.

Kitchen, aged 29 and of Windsor Street in Thurnscoe, was jailed for two years.

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