125MPH DRIVER JAILED

HIGH-SPEED CHASE THROUGH CITY

A MOTORIST led police on a terrifying 125mph chase before smashing into a van whose driver had dropped his children off just moments before.

Dean John Davies, pictured, was at the wheel of a car his friend had hired as he weaved and dodged through traffic at more than 90mph above the speed limit.

His “outrageous” driving through Swansea was described by a judge as the worst piece of dangerous driving he had ever seen.

Davies topped speeds of 125mph during the chase, which was only ended when he ploughed into a van at a junction – moments after the van driver had dropped off his children.

Swansea Crown Court heard how last May 33-year-old Christopher Michael David Smail hired a Kia Optima car from Enterprise.

But at the end of the short-term hire he did not return it to the firm. On May 8 he let his friend, 37-year-old Davies, use the car.

John Hipkin, prosecuting, said the hire firm flagged up the car as a non-return, and on the evening of May 8 police spotted the vehicle in the Birchgrove area. Officers signalled for the car to pull over but it instead sped away.

The court heard for the next 10 minutes Davies led the pursuing police on a high-speed chase through Swansea Enterprise Zone which saw him go the wrong way around a number of roundabouts then along the Pentrechwyth bypass where he touched speeds of 100mph.

The chase continued past Swansea’s Liberty Stadium, through Plasmarl, and then onto the Morriston bypass where Davies hits speeds of 125mph – including through the bends of the Wychtree roundabout underpass.

Davies sped through the Ynyforgan M4 roundabout, weaving in and out of other traffic, before entering Clydach Road. Moments later he smashed into a van and. Davies was arrested at the scene.

The driver of the van would later tell police he was just grateful his children had not been sat beside him as he had dropped them off shortly before the collision.

The court heard during the course of the chase Smail had made a number of unanswered calls and sent a text to his friend asking him where his hire car was.

Later that evening Smail would tell police his car had been stolen – something he knew was not the case.

Davies, of Heol Las Close, Birchgrove, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and failing to stop while Smail, of Trewen Road, Birchgrove, had previously admitted aggravated vehicle taking, and attempting to pervert the course of justice when they appeared together for sentencing.

Dan Griffiths, for Davies, conceded his client had been guilty of an “appalling piece of driving”.

He said the defendant had “panicked” when he saw police because he knew he wasn’t insured to drive the hire car, and had he simply pulled over he would only have been facing a no insurance charge.

The advocate added: “He knows how fortunate he is that nobody was injured. He is genuinely sorry.”

Lee Davies, for Smail, said his client had hired the car legitimately to get to work in Bristol while his own vehicle was off the road. He said the dad-oftwo should not have lent the Kia to Davies and “his wife is very angry at him” for having done it.

Judge Geraint Walters described Davies’ driving as “outrageous” and as bad a piece of driving as he had encountered.

Davies was jailed for 14 months. No separate penalty was imposed for the insurance and failing to stop matters but his licence was endorsed.

Smail was jailed for a total of eight months.

Each defendant will serve half their sentence in prison before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

Davies was also banned from driving for three years and Smail for 12 months. The bans were extended by half the lengths of their sentences so they do not start while they are in prison.