Driver who rammed a police car in escape bid
DRIVER HAD OWNED THE CAR FOR JUST ONE WEEK - BUT JUDGE SPARES HIM IMMEDIATE JAIL TERM
A DRIVER used the car he had owned just one week to ram a police car that tried to block his path.
Ryan Dawson drove his Renault Clio into the stationary vehicle in a bid to escape, Derby Crown Court heard.
The 26-year-old tried to flee the scene, along with two passengers, before being caught.
Dawson, formerly of Peveril Drive, Ilkeston and now of Portland Street,
Pear Tree, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and to driving without a valid licence or insurance.
The court was told that he was now aware he could have killed or seriously injured someone.
A DRIVER who had owned his car for just a week rammed a police car awhen it tried to block his path.
Footage played at Derby Crown Court showed a Renault Clio being driven by Ryan Dawson drive into the stationary vehicle in a bid to escape.
The video then shows the 26-yearold try to flee the scene, along with two passengers, before being caught.
Thomas Welshman, prosecuting, said police in an unmarked car spotted a Renault Clio being driven by Dawson in Sir Frank Whittle Road, Derby, at around 2am on December 3. It had been linked to an incident earlier that evening so they decided to follow it.
Mr Welshman then played the CCTV footage which showed the Clio in Duffield Road and then in Lodge Lane where a marked police vehicle tries to block its path.
At that stage, the defendant attempts to squeeze his Renault between the police vehicle and a wall but instead drives into it and he and two others in the car try to run off.
Mr Welshman said: “He rammed the car in an attempt to get past and attempts to run off but is caught.
“The total cost of the repair of the damaged police car is £3,694.52, which I would ask for in compensation.” Dawson, formerly of Peveril Drive, Ilkeston and now of Portland Street, Pear Tree, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and to driving without a valid licence or insurance. He has two previous convictions for five offences including taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.
Bill Neville, a probation officer, was asked to interview the defendant there and then and provided a verbal pre-sentence report.
He said: “He is not proud to appear before the court and says he bought the car in order to take lessons.
“He has victim awareness that he could have killed or seriously injured someone else and he no longer has access to the vehicle.”
Dawson was spared an immediate prison sentence for his actions. Handing him an eight-month jail term, suspended for a year, Judge Jonathan Bennett said: “You knew you were not going to get through that gap. It was ludicrous.
You knew you were not going to get through that gap, it was ludicrous.
Judge Jonathan Bennett