Driver Sentenced to 14 Months in Detention After 100mph Carlisle Chase

• A 19-year-old driver received 14 months in detention and a two-year driving ban at Carlisle Crown Court on 6 November, 58 days after a 15 mile police chase.
• Judge Nicholas Barker called the speeds “terrifying” and noted that people on foot, school children among them, were on the pavement.
• Highway Code Rule 219 tells drivers to look and listen for emergency vehicles, stay calm, let them pass and avoid stopping on a bend or the brow of a hill.

What 100mph on a 30mph Road Cost One Driver in Carlisle

A 19-year-old driver received 14 months in a youth detention centre and a two-year driving ban after a police chase through Carlisle and along the M6. Carlisle Crown Court passed the sentence on Friday 6 November. The driver had admitted five offences, including dangerous driving, at an earlier hearing.

The chase began on Wednesday 9 September with a Nissan X-Trail carrying cloned number plates. Scottish police first identified the plates. Cumbria Police took over once the vehicle entered England on the M6. The chase covered 15 miles.

The driver left the motorway at junction 43 and joined Warwick Road in Carlisle, where speeds passed 60mph in a 30mph zone. On Eastern Way the car reached 80mph, weaving through traffic and red lights. On London Road it reached 100mph on a 30mph limit road and narrowly avoided a collision with oncoming traffic. That is 70mph over the limit, more than three times the speed the road allows.

Police followed the car out of the city. It rejoined the M6 at junction 42 and headed south at speeds between 100mph and 115mph, passing other traffic on the inside along the hard shoulder. After the driver left the motorway at junction 41, officers used a stinger device near the Stoneybeck roundabout, close to Penrith, and the device burst the tyres. The car hit a stationary HGV. The driver ran a few metres on foot before officers tackled and arrested him.

Five Admissions and a Judge Who Ordered an Immediate Sentence

On 6 October the driver told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court he was guilty of five charges. They covered dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, having no insurance, fraudulently using a registration mark and refusing to comply with a roadside drugs wipe. Carlisle Crown Court passed sentence on 6 November. The pleas came 27 days after the chase, and the sentence 31 days after the pleas. Dangerous driving is one of the offences counted in a separate Motoring Chronicle report on driving convictions at a ten-year high.

Judge Nicholas Barker described the speeds as “terrifying” and noted that people on foot, school children among them, were on the pavement. He said to the driver: “A danger to life is what you were.”

The judge went on: “Your determination to avoid the police was absolute and disregarded, completely, everyone else’s safety. I find it hard to imagine a more dangerous piece of driving than you displayed.”

He explained why the sentence had to start at once: “In my judgement this driving was so serious, it put so many individuals at risk of serious injury or even death that it would be an affront to justice if this was not an immediate sentence.”

Defence barrister Scarlett Wilson addressed the court in mitigation. “The incident was incredibly nasty,” she said, then added: “He asks me to apologise to the court. He doesn’t like to dwell on the incident too much. He is somewhat embarrassed to think about it and think about what could have happened and the injury that could have been caused by his actions. It rightly troubles him.”

What to Do When an Emergency Vehicle Closes In Behind You

Rule 219 of the Highway Code is the official guidance for a driver who sees or hears an emergency vehicle approaching. It covers ambulances, fire engines, police and doctors’ vehicles showing flashing blue, red or green lights or sirens or flashing headlights, along with traffic officer and incident support vehicles showing flashing amber lights. The rule gives drivers a short list of steps.

Watch and listen for the vehicle first. Once it closes in, stay calm and judge which route it will take, then make room for it to pass without breaking any traffic sign. If you have to stop, pull to the side of the road, and try not to stop short of a hill crest, a bend or a narrow stretch.

The rule adds three more points. Keep yourself, other road users and pedestrians safe. Do not drive up onto the kerb. Brake gently as you reach a junction or roundabout, as the driver behind might not see what you see.

If Your Plate Turns Up on Someone Else’s Car

The vehicle in this case carried cloned number plates, and the driver admitted fraudulent use of a registration mark. GOV.UK defines cloning as copying a number plate and putting it on a different vehicle. GOV.UK lists two signs: fines or charges for a vehicle that was never yours, or word of another vehicle using your plate. The scale of the problem is covered in Motoring Chronicle’s report on cloned plate fines reported to the DVLA.

The GOV.UK steps start with the police. Only the registered keeper, or someone with the keeper’s permission, can report cloned plates. In England and Wales, fill in the cloned plates form on a police website or phone 101; the form also alerts DVLA for you. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, phone 101. Keep the report reference number, which you quote when chasing the police for news, and report again each time another fine or charge arrives.

If you do not use the police form, write to DVLA at Swansea, SA99 1AR, with your registration number and copies of every fine or charge you received in error. DVLA then posts a confirmation letter to the V5C address. To challenge a fine, contact the organisation that issued it, tell it you have reported the cloning to the police and DVLA, and enclose a copy of that confirmation letter. You can keep driving your own vehicle. The police can stop any vehicle showing your plate, including yours, and can ask to see the reference number, your V5C and your driving licence.

Cumbria Police and the Message to Young Drivers

Chief Inspector Sam Turner of Cumbria Police gave the force’s view of the case.

“The driver’s behaviour was incredibly reckless and could easily have resulted in him causing serious injury to himself and others.”

He added a word for the officers involved:

“However, thanks to the professionalism and teamwork of officers – led by the force’s Operations Team – the pursuit was brought to a safe conclusion and the driver arrested.”

He then tied the case to the force’s wider campaign:

“Cumbria Police is committed to educating young drivers about the dangers of poor decision-making behind the wheel. The guilty pleas and came at the conclusion of our Op Spotlight road safety operation targeting young drivers demonstrating dangerous driving behaviour.”

The court gave the driver 14 months in detention and a two-year driving ban. National figures on young drivers killed or seriously injured are in a separate Motoring Chronicle article on young drivers killed or seriously injured.

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Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar