140MPH DRIVER TOLD COPS ‘I’M A COW’
Bizarre behaviour by already-banned man after high-speed pursuit:
AN Audi driver who raced along the A55 at speeds of up to 140mph started eating grass from a verge and shouting “I’m a cow” when he was arrested by police.
Businessman David Richard Wright’s bizarre behaviour came at the end of a police pursuit which ended when he ran out of fuel near Bangor.
Wright, 23 of High Street, Bangor, was spotted by officers driving his powerful Audi R8 car in Llandudno but failed to stop when signalled to do so, Caernarfon Crown Court was told.
Richard Edwards, prosecuting, said officers were asked to look for a blue coloured Audi R8 during the early hours of Saturday, June 22.
It was believed the driver was Wright who had been disqualified for 56 days by magistrates at Wrexham for speeding and careless driving earlier that week.
“Llandudno CCTV spotted the vehicle and officers were directed towards it. The officer joined the A55 and followed the Audi,” Mr Edwards said.
“Another police officer, in a marked police vehicle, was ahead of the Audi and he straddled both lanes with his blue flashing lights illuminated in an attempt to make the vehicle slow down and stop.
“This was ineffective and the driver continued at speed heading westbound towards Bangor,”
All the officers could see was the car’s tail lights in the distance as it hit speeds of around 140mph, the court heard.
Police officers followed the Audi before the car slowed and stopped on the approach 11 at after to junction Llandygai near Bangor it had ran out of fuel.
The court heard Wright was uncooperative with officers and refused to take a drugswipe test.
During the journey in the police car to Caernarfon he was abusive to the officer who stopped and requested a more secure vehicle to take him onto custody. “While waiting for that vehicle to arrive the defendant’s behaviour was bizarre. While at the roadside he shouted “I’m a cow, I’m a cow” and began eating grass from the verge,” Mr Edwards told the court. He refused to give sample of breath for analysis at the police station and Wright told officers he had drunk alcohol earlier that night.
Wright, who had a female passenger in the vehicle, insisted he was cruising at 70-77mph and denied driving at excessive speed.
He later admitted admitted charges of dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, failing to provide a breath sample and failure to co-operate with a drug swipe test. He also admitted driving without insurance.
Jailing him for 14 months, Judge Huw Rees said he had driven at an “incredibly fast speed”.
“These are serious offences and the circumstances make them particularly so. You should not have been driving,” he said.
Wright was also banned from driving for three years and seven months and must take an extended retest.
Ryan Rothwell, defending, said Wright was in a difficult position and knew a prison sentence was likely.
But Mr Rothwell asked the court to suspend the prison term as he ran two successful businesses in Bangor and Pwllheli.
“He is carrying on the legacy of his father, a councillor and well thought of in his community, who died suddenly three years ago,” Mr Rothwell added.
After the hearing the officer who arrested Wright, PC Daniel Darbey, said: “Wright showed a complete disregard to the courts who had already disqualified him from driving. It is incredibly lucky that there wasn’t a collision due to his reckless and irresponsible behaviour.
“Dangerous drivers are not welcome on the roads of North Wales. This sentence sends a clear message that if you’re banned from driving and drive a vehicle, it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught and prosecuted.”
An application to forfeit the £45,000 vehicle, which Wright had bought in May this year, was rejected.