Criminal who taunted cops after escape jailed

A criminal who taunted officers after escaping police custody has been jailed for six years.

Cody Lowndes, of Lakeside Avenue, Ashton, was sentenced to six years and two months in jail at the Lowry Nightingale Court, Salford yesterday (Monday 14 December).

Lowndes was originally arrested in July after £140,000 worth of cars were stolen from Ashton, Denton, Stalybridge and Mottram. All later appeared on sale on social media. Four of the cars were recovered by police, but three remained outstanding.

However, following his arrest Lowndes became unwell and he was taken to hospital by officers. It was whilst there he managed to free himself from custody and flee the officers.

Days later a video of him appeared on social media, where he taunted officers about his escape.

He spent 10 days on the run before being arrested once again at a hotel on Manchester on Tuesday 21 July.

He was charged with and later admitted seven counts of handling stolen goods and one count of escaping lawful custody.

Police Sergeant Peter Goddard, of GMP's Tameside division, said: "We're glad that Cody Lowndes has finally been put behind bars - the place he has belonged for the last six months.

"It is clear from the bulk of his offending that he has no regard for the law, after the way he targeted innocent members of our community and brazenly stole from them before having the audacity to then try and sell their goods online - in some cases, just a matter of hours later.

"Furthermore, his feeling of impunity by escaping police custody and taunting officers online for over a week emphasised the importance that this man was removed from our streets, and he is now forced to spend enough time behind bars to reflect on his deplorable actions - I very much doubt his extra 10 days of freedom were really a price worth paying."