FOOTAGE of a car thief smashing through a Fenland level crossing to evade being stopped by police will feature on a documentary tonight.

The video, which was viewed across the world after the driver was jailed in April last year, will feature in BBC3’s Our Crime – Speed at 9pm, which focuses on car crime.

The programme will also include interviews with Pcs Martin Lobley and Heath Gregory, who were in the police car pursuing Terence Fowler in Peterborough to Whittlesey on June 20, 2010.

Fowler, now 21, of Peyton Avenue, March, stole a red Mercedes C180 from outside a home in the town.

The car triggered an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera in Peterborough and officers tried to stop him on Town Bridge. But Fowler refused to pull over and a pursuit ensued through Stanground to Whittlesey at speeds of more than 90mph.

Police abandoned the pursuit because it was too dangerous and could only watch as he ploughed through a closed level crossing at King’s Dyke, Whittlesey, with a Cross Country train just seconds away.

Passengers reported feeling the carriages shudder as the train smashed into the barrier debris moments later.

The vehicle was found abandoned in Woolpack Lane, Whittlesey. Fowler was traced through DNA and was caught after being arrested in Bournemouth for an assault.

Fowler pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, criminal damage, obstructing an engine or carriage using a railway and driving with no insurance.

He was jailed for three and a half years at Peterborough Crown Court. He was also banned from driving for three years.