Driver jailed after smashing into the back of a driving instructor's car during police chase

[dutchman]

He sped off from police along the A444



A ‘completely selfish’ driver smashed into the back of a driving instructor’s car, in which a young learner was taking a lesson, as he tried to escape from the police.

And Warwick Crown Court heard the crash on the A444 near Nuneaton has left the driving instructor so shaken that he is now considering a career change.

Driver Damian Ali, aged 19, of Smith Street, Foleshill, Coventry, was jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, possessing cannabis and having no insurance.

Prosecutor Paul Fairley said that police officers were on patrol in Coventry Road, Bedworth, when they had information that a stolen silver Mondeo had triggered an ANPR camera.

They headed to the A444 where they saw the Mondeo, which had been stolen a month earlier and was on false number plates, waiting at red traffic lights, with Ali at the wheel.

On seeing the police behind him, he drove off through the red lights and out of view, and there was then ‘a relatively short pursuit,’ during which Ali went through two more red lights.

It was early on a Friday afternoon, and he weaved between other traffic as he headed towards Nuneaton.

And when he came up behind cars waiting at another red light at a roundabout, Ali smashed into the back of a blue Toyota Yaris in the nearside lane and a black VW Golf in the middle lane.

Ali jumped out of the Mondeo, ran across the busy road and onto the island where he was arrested and was found to have six small bags of cannabis in his shoulder bag.

When he was questioned, he said he had borrowed the car from a friend, and denied knowing it had been stolen, explaining that he had tried to get away because of the cannabis and because he had no licence or insurance.

Mr Fairley pointed out that the Yaris belonged to a driving instructor and was being driven by a young female learner at the time, and it had extensive damage to the bodywork and axle which cost £6,000 to repair.

And Deputy Judge Richard Griffith-Jones observed: “It has affected his confidence, not just that of his pupil. He says he is seriously considering a career change, because it’s the third such incident.

“We don’t know how the female pupil has reacted, but just imagine being a learner driver and that happening.”

Jailing Ali, Judge Griffith-Jones told him: “You were completely selfish in your motivation to drive as dangerously as you did because you knew you didn’t have insurance or a proper driving licence, and you knew you were in possession of cannabis.

“In order to get away from the police you drove through a number of red lights – and every time you did, you created a risk of a collision and catastrophic injury to people using the road.

“You did eventually hit a couple of cars, and your car wasn’t able to continue, and you then got out and fled.

“One of the cars was a driving instructor’s who had got a pupil in the car. You did very serious damage to the car and made a significant contribution to his loss of confidence in his whole occupation. One only has to imagine how the young pupil driver would feel.

“I want you and everyone else to understand that people who drive dangerously in this way will receive a custodial sentence.

[rebbonk]

14 months is a joke.