Escaped prisoner who rammed armed police with his car at a Coventry gym is jailed for three and a half years

From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026.

Jay Bennett, 33, walked out of HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire having completed only seven months of a nine-year sentence, then spent four months at large before armed officers tracked him down at the Fitness Factory gym in Coventry in March. Bodycam footage captures Bennett steering his black Volkswagen Golf repeatedly into police vehicles as officers closed in, with firearms officers apparently shooting out his tyres to halt his escape attempt. He was eventually cornered, dragged from the car and taken into custody. Warwick Crown Court sentenced him to three and a half years on September 28.

Bennett had been at HMP Sudbury for only seven months of a nine-year term when he absconded last December.

Officers targeted his tyres as he struck several parked cars, before a police vehicle forced the Golf into a wall.

Bennett pleaded guilty to 18 offences, among them absconding and three counts of driving while disqualified, and was convicted of dangerous driving.