Dangerous driver jailed after high speed chase

A DANGEROUS driver who led cops on a 15-mile high-speed chase before trying to take a 90-degree bend at 90mph was yesterday jailed.

Miguel Cover sped off from officers who were hunting for him and his two passengers, Michael Sandford and Christopher Stevens, following allegations that they were trying to lure young girls into their car in Dundee.

All three men were yesterday cleared of charges relating to those allegations after a sheriff ruled they had no case to answer.

Cover then admitted a charge of dangerous driving at the close of the Crown case after three days of evidence at Dundee Sheriff Court.

The trial earlier heard that the details of the men and their car – a hired black Ford Galaxy people carrier – were circulated to officers after reports they had been driving around the Hilltown area of the city trying to “entice” young women, into the car. Officers then found them on the city’s Riverside Drive.

That began a high-speed chase down the A90 Dundee to Perth road – which culminated in the car attempting to take a bend at 90mph, causing the car to skid and smash into a barrier.

Cover, 32, Stevens, 23, and Sandford, 25, all of London, each denied five charges of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm on 9 and 10 January in Dundee.

All three were cleared of those charges after Sheriff George Way upheld a no case to answer submission by their lawyers.

He said there were “profound” contradictions in the evidence from the girls and women with regards to identification that “undermined the Crown case”.

Cover admitted a charge of dangerous driving between the Swallow Hotel roundabout on the outskirts of Dundee and Kinfauns, near Perth. Sheriff Way jailed Cover for 11 months, and banned him from driving for 18 months.