A persistent criminal from Paddock Wood who stole a delivery van while the driver desperately clung to the vehicle has been jailed for more than six years.
Danny Lee, 25, jumped into the idling delivery vehicle alongside a teenage boy in Ringden Avenue, Paddock Wood, on 11 January 2024. Despite the delivery driver attempting to hold onto the teenager, Lee put his foot down and sped away, forcing the victim to let go.
Shortly afterwards, police tracked the stolen van to an address in Mercer Close. Officers spotted Lee, a 16-year-old boy, Elijah Smith, and Danny Lee Senior carrying stolen parcels into a nearby property before making arrests. Although Lee fled the scene as police arrived, he was subsequently apprehended. He was charged with aggravated vehicle taking and robbery after forensic investigators matched his DNA to the steering wheel, gear lever, and driver’s door.
On Wednesday 8 July 2026, Lee was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to six years and three months’ imprisonment for the robbery alongside two previous criminal incidents.
The court heard details of a high-speed pursuit on 7 April 2021, when Lee, from Paddock Wood, fled from police patrols who spotted him driving a stolen vehicle in Mereworth. The car had been reported stolen in Orpington several days prior. Lee ignored police signals to pull over, reaching speeds of 60mph in a 30mph zone and executing a series of dangerous manoeuvres. He eventually stopped on a mud track near Kent Street, abandoned the vehicle, and attempted to flee across a field on foot. Officers quickly caught and arrested him. A subsequent search of the car revealed a small plastic pot containing 13 deal bags of cocaine, alongside a sum of cash tucked into his coat pocket. He was subsequently charged with dangerous driving, handling stolen goods, and possession with intent to supply cocaine.
Lee also admitted to a string of farm break-ins across Tonbridge in September 2024, during which he stole copper cabling and power tools. In one burglary at a site in Yalding, he took approximately £20,000 worth of irrigation equipment and power cables from a work shed. CCTV captured Lee selling some of the stolen scrap metal later that day, leading to his arrest two days later and a charge of burglary.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Celia King stated that despite Lee being on bail for offences relating to the stolen vehicle and copper cables, he demonstrated a complete lack of regard for the law by assaulting an innocent delivery driver and taking her vehicle. She added that it was sheer luck the victim did not suffer severe injuries during the ordeal.
Three associates were also sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court in connection with the delivery van robbery:
Danny Lee Senior, 46, from Paddock Wood, admitted theft of a motor vehicle and was sentenced to 19 months in prison on 22 April 2026.
Elijah Smith, 26, from Lenham, was charged with theft of a motor vehicle and received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, on 13 April 2026.
A 16-year-old boy from Hampshire was charged with robbery and being carried in a vehicle without the owner’s consent. On 13 April 2026, he was handed a 12-month community order, ordered to complete 50 hours of unpaid work alongside a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and required to pay a £114 victim surcharge.