---
title: "Nathan Owen jailed for faking brake failure on M57 and M58 motorways"
publication: "MediaBias News"
url: "https://mediabias.news/politics/nathan-owen-jailed-for-faking-brake-failure-on-m57-and-m58-motorways"
api: "https://mediabias.news/api/v1/stories/nathan-owen-jailed-for-faking-brake-failure-on-m57-and-m58-motorways"
markdown: "https://mediabias.news/politics/nathan-owen-jailed-for-faking-brake-failure-on-m57-and-m58-motorways.md"
audio: "https://mediabias.news/api/audio/nathan-owen-jailed-for-faking-brake-failure-on-m57-and-m58-motorways"
category: "Politics"
area: "United Kingdom"
published: "2026-08-04T11:05:32.122Z"
source_reported: "2026-08-03T21:35:32.000Z"
updated: "2026-08-04T19:16:02.472Z"
assessment_type: "coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis"
fact_check_status: "not-performed"
---

# Nathan Owen jailed for faking brake failure on M57 and M58 motorways

*Owen claimed his Jaguar's brakes failed while driving at speeds up to 86mph, leading to a police pursuit*

**The short version**

- Nathan Owen, 33, was jailed for falsely claiming his Jaguar’s brakes failed during a high-speed drive on 6 March 2024.
- Owen reached speeds of up to 86mph on the M57 and M58 motorways while reporting the alleged malfunction to police.
- Footage from Merseyside Police shows one police vehicle being struck 31 times during the pursuit.
- No centre- or right-rated outlets reported the story, according to the digests available.

Nathan Owen, 33, was sentenced for falsely reporting a brake failure in his Jaguar while driving at speeds up to 86mph on the M57 and M58 motorways on 6 March 2024. Owen contacted Merseyside Police to claim his vehicle was uncontrollable, prompting a pursuit involving multiple police cars.

Footage released by Merseyside Police shows Owen’s Jaguar being driven alongside police vehicles during the incident. One police car was struck 31 times. The force described Owen’s speeds as "extreme" in the digests of the reports.

## What the coverage left out

No centre- or right-rated digests carried the story. The omission is established only from the digests available, which do not include full reports from those outlets.

**Coverage watch:** unwatched. Checked 0 times; 0 checks found a material change.

## How the sides framed it

### Left

- The two left-rated digests, both from The Independent, led on Owen’s false claim of a brake malfunction as part of a "financial ploy". Both included the detail that Owen reached speeds of up to 86mph and that one police vehicle was hit 31 times during the pursuit. The digests also noted the release of police footage showing the incident.

### Centre

No separate framing summary.

### Right

No separate framing summary.

## Verification scope

This page compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It is not a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true.

## Original reporting this was written from

- [The Independent](https://independent.co.uk/tv/news/nathan-owen-m62-jaguar-hoax-b3026811.html) — Driver calls 999 while speeding in Jaguar and claims brakes have stopped working
- [The Independent (US)](https://the-independent.com/tv/news/nathan-owen-m62-jaguar-hoax-b3026811.html) — Driver calls 999 while speeding in Jaguar and claims brakes have stopped working

## Questions

**What did Nathan Owen do?**

Nathan Owen falsely claimed his Jaguar’s brakes had failed while driving at speeds up to 86mph on the M57 and M58 motorways on 6 March 2024. He reported the alleged malfunction to Merseyside Police, leading to a pursuit where one police vehicle was struck 31 times.

**Which outlets reported the story?**

The story was reported by two left-rated outlets, The Independent and The Independent (US), according to the digests available. No centre- or right-rated digests carried the story, though full reports from those outlets may exist.

**What evidence did police release?**

Merseyside Police released footage showing Owen’s Jaguar being driven alongside police vehicles during the pursuit. The footage captures one police car being struck 31 times, as described in the digests.

---

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