Driver jailed after chase with police through city
MOTORIST WHO HIT SPEEDS OF 80 MPH HAD ‘PANICKED’
A DRIVER who led police on a dangerous chase through residential streets has been jailed.
Christopher Storey was behind the wheel of a black Renault Clio and also had a passenger in the car when he took off at speed.
He started on Great Lime Road in Palmersville, which has a speed limit of 30mph, and travelled to the West Moor area.
Along the way, he reached speeds of 60mph and at one point 80mph, went through a red light, went the wrong way around a roundabout and went into wrong lanes.
He also struck a police car which was following him, causing more than £9,500 worth of damage. Just before he was arrested, his car mounted a kerb and came to a halt at a roadside.
Now Storey, 28, of Edwin’s Avenue, Forest Hall, has been jailed for 14 months and banned him from driving for three years and seven months.
At Newcastle Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to three offences of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance.
The court heard the incident started at around 11.15pm on November 9 when a police officer saw the Renault Clio driving at speed on Great Lime Road.
The officer turned on his vehicle’s sirens and indicated for the Clio to stop. When Storey’s car pulled over and the officer approached him the driver accelerated away.
The defendant drove along Delaval Road and the surrounding streets, also going past the Flying Scotsman pub and then through West Moor.
During this time, he overtook cars on the wrong side of the road and caused other vehicles to swerve, travelled around a roundabout in the wrong direction, failed to slow down at a level crossing, collided with a kerb and drove into a police officer’s vehicle before finally coming to a halt at the side of a road.
He reached speeds of around 60mph on 30mph streets and hit 80mph when he was on Great Lime Road, the court was told.
When this offence was carried out, Storey had already been disqualified from driving following a previous incident.
Tony Cornberg, defending Storey, said: “He has displayed and expresses, through me, his regret.
“He saw the police and effectively panicked. Taking someone, giving them a lift, agreeing to drive the car knowing he was disqualified – he did not need to drive that day. He chose to do that. The regret is something he lives with every day.”
Mr Cornberg also said Storey had been on licence and was recalled to prison after this offence. Since then, the defendant had taken positive steps to improve his life.