Prison sentence for driver who fled from police at 130mph
Maidenhead: Unlicensed, uninsured and driving at 130mph
A dangerous driver who tried to flee police at speeds of 130mph around Maidenhead before crashing his car has been jailed.
Marcus Burke, 25, of Clive Road, London, was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and banned from driving during a hearing at Reading Crown Court on Friday,
March 5.
At about 5pm on February 8, Burke was caught by officers on their ANPR camera driving a Volkswagen Golf on the A308M without insurance.
Officers from the roads policing unit based at Taplow police station asked Burke to stop on the M4 junction of the 8/9 roundabout.
But as he was asked to pull over further down the road
onto the hard shoulder of the A404, Burke made off and failed to stop.
He then made a series of dangerous manoeuvres including undertaking several vehicles, swerving in and out of lanes and travelling at more than 130mph, before making an erratic turn to exit the A404 towards the Thicket roundabout.
Burke entered the slip road at around 100mph and failed to navigate the roundabout.
He narrowly missed vehicles on the slip road before striking the kerb and crashing into trees and bushes.
He sustained no injuries, but was arrested at the scene and charged the following day.
PC Connor Horan of the
Joint Operations Unit for Roads Policing, said: “The driving standards displayed by Burke were dangerous and wholly unnecessary.
“His driving was all the more dangerous given the weather conditions, which were poor with light snow and an ice risk in places.
“He showed no consideration for his safety or the safety of other road users.
“After the incident, we established the reason he failed to stop was because he did not hold a licence or insurance, matters that could have been dealt with at the roadside had he not taken the decision to flee police.
“As a result of Burke’s actions, he will now have to serve a custodial sentence.
“The message is simple. If police request you to stop, please stop. We will not tolerate driving of this manner in the Thames Valley and will make every effort to prosecute those who choose to.”
Burke pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving, one count of failing to provide a specimen for analysis, one
count of failing to stop for police, one count of driving with-out a licence and one count of driving without insurance.
He was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment for the driving offences and had a previous six-month suspended prison sentence activated for a class B drugs supply offence, to be served consecutively, resulting in a total of 16 months’ imprisonment.
COVID-19 restrictions meant that Maidenhead’s Big Read has had to move online this year – in a festival of live events streamed by children learning from home.
The town’s third annual festival of reading began on February 22 and will continue to March 20.
To make the Big Read work, the number of sessions and presenters were reduced, with some opting to potentially present sessions for a second half of the Big Read in June.
This will also give other schools who did not take part this time around a chance to do so.
“When the Government took the decision to close the schools, we had a bit of a dilemma,” said the chairman of Maidenhead’s Big Read, Helal (Stephan) Stephan.
“We were dreading [going virtual] because of the WiFi issues the children might have, and people all preferring different platforms like Zoom or Teams.
“Some of the presenters also found it difficult to use digital platforms, so that was a challenge.
“We thought it would be very hit and miss, but it was actually very well done, and the feedback we had was excellent.”
A dozen local primary schools took part with around 1,700 children joining sessions either from home or their classroom.
“The whole idea of the
Big Read is to engage children who don’t like to read. We thought if we include a whole class, chances are we would reach those children,” said Stephan.
Some highlights of the events were Martin Brown discussing Horrible Histories and giving drawing tips, Nick Sharratt leading a draw-along and Sue Palmer discussing what it takes to be an astronaut.
Local authors and poets Simon Mole and Coral Rumble led poetry workshops, Kate Poels ran creative writing workshops and Tom Palmer hosted a football quiz and discussed the importance of reading about what you love.
Once Upon a Bus brought to life the stories of Julia Donaldson, while The Big Read’s patron, Dame Katherine Grainger, read from The Wind in the Willows.
Waterstone’s children’s laureate, Cressida Cowell, spoke to children on World Book Day – March 4 – about her latest bestseller The Wizards of Once: Never and Forever, as well as How to Train Your Dragon, and gave tips on becoming an author or illustrator.
“We were delighted to be able to attract such fabulous presenters to speak to the children and they delivered wonderfully inspiring sessions,” said Stephan.
Courthouse Junior School was one of those involved in the Big Read.
“At Courthouse we were lucky enough to have two amazing sessions organised by the Maidenhead’s Big Read,” said deputy headteacher Toby Little.
“Despite both sessions being virtual the authors were engaging, knowledgeable and captivating for the children.”
Each of the participating schools will be receiving a gift of 10 books written by festival authors.
Maidenhead’s Big Read is always looking for new volunteers. Find out more at www.maidenheads-bigread.org.uk