Drug driver led police on high speed chase
A from DRUG-DRIVER police through sped vil- off lages at speed – only to ditch his car outside his own home.
Ryan Oakley ignored red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road to evade officers.
The 96mph chase came to a halt in outside his home in Paddock Close, Castle Donington, where police cornered his vehicle. He ran off and was caught nearby.
Oakley (25) had enough cocaine in his bloodstream to put him six times over the legal limit. But a judge has told him he will not go to prison when sentenced in the new year.
Judge Shaun Smith QC said: “This was an eight or nine-mile chase at speeds over 90mph when you were on cocaine.
“But there are cases of dangerous driving that are far worse than this, even though this was bad.”
Almas Ben-Aribia, prosecuting, said the offence took place just before midnight on October 10.
She said: “A police officer on patrol in a marked car saw a Ford Focus coming towards him at speed while he was in Weston-on-Trent.
“The defendant accelerated away at speed and the police started to pursue. “The chase saw the defendant reach speeds of 96mph in 30mph limits and regularly go over 80mph or 90mph. "He also drives on the wrong side of the road, crosses the central reservation, jumps a red light and ignores road junctions he is supposed to stop at.
“Police try to block in his car so he gets out of the passenger seat and there is a short chase where he is detained.”
Oakley gave a reading of 65 micrograms of cocaine in a litre of blood when the legal limit is 10mg. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drug-driving and has two previous speeding offences on his record among his five previous convictions.
Dan Church, mitigating, said: “It is not the worst driving your honour will see. He has pleaded guilty and, happily, there were no other vehicles involved or any damage to proper-ty
Judge Smith adjourned the case for sentencing on January 10, telling Oakley he would be handing him a suspended sentence. He said: “I am looking at 12 months (jail) but I am going to suspend it.
“I am asking the probation service to speak to you to see what unpaid work you can carry out and I am also looking at a curfew.”
Oakley’s conviction means he already has a mandatory 12-month driving ban.