A banned driver was jailed for his fifth offence of driving in Scunthorpe while disqualified and leading police on a dangerous 75mph chase through the town.
John Nicholls, 32, of Warley Road, Scunthorpe told he panicked when he saw the unmarked police car. But at Grimsby Crown Court, Judge Gurdial Singh said: “You knew full well what you were doing. You were trying to avoid detection.”
Nicholls admitted offences of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, having no insurance and driving not in accordance with a proper licence at 1.30pm on September 3 this year.
Prosecuting, Blaise Morris said police officers Wilkinson and Young were in an unmarked police car on Grange Lane South, Scunthorpe when a car pulled alongside them and the driver appeared to be on his mobile phone. One of the officers checked the details of the vehicle on a police computer and discovered it was registered to a woman who was the sole insured driver.
The silver Vauxhall Astra was trailed and when the police car’s blue lights were illuminated the Astra driver pulled over towards a layby. But as the police drew near, it sped off over a grass area after mounting a pavement towards Queensway and later on to Grange Lane North and then on to St Lawrence Road.
Mr Morris said the speed of the vehicle reached 50mph towards the junction with Fardell Road, where it went directly across the junction without stopping, narrowly missing another vehicle. The Astra then went at 75mph on the wrong side of the road towards Collum Avenue . Other vehicles had to swerve out of the way, told Mr Morris.
The Astra then went through a gap in the fence on Willow Grove across a footpath where there were families with children. The car then stopped and Nicholls was apprehended by police.
He told police he panicked when he saw them and he was “only giving a friend a lift.” Nicholls has 24 previous convictions for 56 offences, with a significant number of offences of driving while disqualified.
For the defendant, Harry Bradford said his client was going through a crisis following a no-fault eviction. He said he was sorry for his actions.
Judge Gurdial Singh said he had “appalling antecedents including four offences of driving while disqualified.” He jailed Nicholls for a total of 16 months and banned him from driving for 26 months and ordered a retest before he gets his licence to drive.
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
