Prison for ‘reckless’ driver

A ‘reckless’ driver has been jailed for ramming a police car with a stolen van in Langley and leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen lorry while on bail.

Tommy Coates, 24, of Mansion Lane, Iver, was sentenced to two years in prison on April 12 for the two separate dangerous driving incidents.

He also faces a driving ban of four years and eight months after he pleaded guilty to multiple offences including dangerous driving and vehicle theft.

Coates stole a Ford Transit van from Grampian Way, Langley, while uninsured to drive at about 1.15pm on November 5 last year.

Later in the day, officers saw Coates driving the van and tried to get him to pull over, but he refused.

While attempting to evade police, Coates rammed the police vehicle with the van before running away on foot.

Officers found Coates exactly a week later, and he tried to evade them again by running away but officers caught and arrested him. Coates was charged that day (November 12).

While on conditional court bail for these offences a month later, Coates broke into a storage yard in Amersham Road in Chalfont St Giles at about 11pm on December 13.

Officers arrived as Coates was about to leave inside a stolen Isuzu lorry, which he was disqualified from driving.

An officer drew their taser and ordered Coates to get out of the vehicle, but he ignored the demand and drove at him instead, narrowly avoiding them and the police vehicles.

Coates then drove extremely dangerously while being pursued by officers, including driving on the wrong side of the road, narrowly missing other vehicles and speeding on Amersham Road and through Chalfont St Giles.

At one point, Coates stopped by the junction with Lower Road, possibly to try to detach the trailer from the cab, but he got back in the lorry when he saw police and carried on driving an unstable vehicle.

Coates continued driving for another hour before eventually stopping and being arrested. He was charged with further offences the next day.

He pleaded guilty to two counts each of dangerous driving and driving without insurance, three counts of vehicle theft, and one count of driving whilst disqualified at Reading Crown Court on April 12.

Coates will also have to take an extended retest to get his licence back.

Detective Constable Lauren Rose said: “Tommy Coates showed a complete lack of regard for others during both of these dangerous driving incidents; demonstrated by his manner of driving, causing extensive damage to the vehicle stolen as well as the police vehicles.

She added: “It is fortunate Coates did not cause a collision and hurt someone, or even worse, through his reckless behaviour.”