A driver who sped through a red light at between 80mph and 100mph, has been jailed for 27 months and banned from the roads for four years.
Thomas Daniel Richards, aged 22, of Ballabrooie in Sulby, was sentenced by Deemster Graeme Cook for the latest in a long line of incidents revolving around driving whilst disqualified.
They included a high-speed car chase through Ramsey’s Parliament Square.
Prosecutor Rebecca Cubbon told the court that Richards had met his girlfriend in the Royal George pub, where they had a ’couple of drinks’ before going in Richards’ car to Jaks bar in Douglas.
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The couple left there at 2.30am and, with another couple in the car, Richards drove over the Mountain Road back to Ramsey. His driving was seen to be dangerous by other road users, one of whom rang the police.
Officers waited for the car at the Ramsey end of the Mountain Road and observed it hitting the kerb. Despite the police using their lights and siren, Richards refused to stop.
Police chased the car through Ramsey, where he sped through a red light in Parliament Square. One of the passengers said she believed this to have been at between 80mph and 100mph. The officers lost sight of the car and arrested him later that day.
Deemster Cook said he was surprised it took officers so long to find and arrest Richards, which he said was ’not good policing’.
He added: ’This is one of the most horrendous instances of dangerous driving I have heard either here or in the UK.’
Defence advocate Matthew Wilshaw said that it was through ’luck rather than judgement’ that no one was injured and accepted Richards was facing a custodial sentence.
Mr Wilshaw said that Richards has never been able to pass the driving test due to issues with the theory test, but that his interest is in cars and he wants to work in a garage, for which he’d need a licence.
Deemster Cook told Richards: ’The public need protection from people like you, driving like that.’
He sentenced Richards to a total of 27 months in prison and disqualified him from the roads for four years. If Richards does seek to drive in the future, he will also be required to take the extended driving test.