124mph drug driver jailed
A DRUG driver led police on a ten-mile chase at speeds of up to 124mph through villages around Coventry and Nuneaton.
And when Dominic Haywood was finally found hiding in a field after abandoning his powerful BMW, tests showed he had more than three times the legal limit of cannabis in his system.
Haywood, 18, of Queensway, Nuneaton, was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and driving while over the specified limit of cannabis.
The judge at Coventry Crown Court also banned him from driving for four years and four months, after which he will have to take an extended test before getting his licence back.
Prosecutor Simon Burch said that at 10.50pm on Friday, July 13, a police officer was on patrol in Ironbridge Way, Exhall, when he saw a BMW coming in the opposite direction.
The BMW, driven by Haywood, who had a full licence and was insured, was exceeding the speed limit as it headed towards Coventry, so the officer turned to follow it.
But Haywood continued at excessive speed along Aldermans Green Road and then turned to head towards Bulkington on the B4109, reaching 94mph in the 30mph limit residential road.
He continued doing more than three times the legal limit - because when he entered a 40mph stretch, his speed reached 124mph before slowing to 70mph in a 30 zone as he drove through the centre of Bulkington.
Heading out of the village towards Wolvey, where the road has a speed limit of 50, the BMW reached 116mph.
And as he then headed into Nuneaton along Lutterworth Road, he overtook two other vehicles at 60mph on a blind bend with solid white lines in the centre of the road.
Haywood increased his speed to just under 100mph in a 30 zone before turning into Whitestone Road where he flew over speed bumps at such a high speed that the officer lost sight of him.
Shortly afterwards the BMW, which had been bought and insured for Haywood by his grandfather, was found abandoned in a field at Marston Jabbett.
A police dog was brought in and tracked Haywood, who was found hiding in the grass on the outskirts of Bulkington.
He was tested for drugs, and gave a positive reading for cannabis, and an analysis showed he had just over three times the legal limit for driving in his system, added Mr Burch.
Niall Skinner, defending, said that when he was arrested Haywood had told officers: “I’ve been an idiot, I just panicked and set off.”
Mr Skinner commented: “That is rather true. He had been a complete idiot on that occasion.
“He was fully insured and had a full licenced, and was driving a perfectly roadworthy vehicle.
“When the police were following him, he knows he should have stopped, and every 500 yards he travelled he was getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble.”
Asking the judge to consider suspending any sentence, Mr Skinner added: “He’s 18, 19 next week, and he’s never been in trouble before.
“He is worried, he knows he could be leaving court in a different way to the way he arrived.”
But jailing Haywood, Recorder Simon Readhead QC told him: “I have to have in mind the deterrent effect and public safety.
“You are still very young, and you only passed your test in February this year.
“You have not been in trouble before, and you accepted your responsibility for this offence immediately on being arrested and you express full regret and remorse.
“But this was a highly dangerous piece of driving which continued for some time and over a not insignificant distance of seven to ten miles.
“I take into account that no injury was caused to any other person or other property, although that, in my judgement, is due to providence rather than anything you did or did not do.
“This offence was on a Friday night at a time and in places where other people were likely to be present, and your motivation was to escape from a police officer.
“The speeds you reached were truly dreadful. The risk of losing control in those places at that speed is considerable.
“People who drive dangerously when they have consumed illicit drugs must expect a custodial sentence.”