‘Reckless’ banned driver jailed for driving dangerously through Cambridge
It happened on Mere Way around 2am on Sunday.
A ‘reckless’ disqualified and uninsured driver who led police on a pursuit through Cambridge has been jailed.
Officers on patrol at around 2am on Sunday (8 June) were drawn to a white Renault Kangoo van being driven along the A10 without any rear lights.
When further checks revealed the vehicle was linked to criminality, the officers attempted to pull it over.
The driver, Shane Smith, failed to stop for police and instead led them on a chase along the A14, A428 and eventually into Mere Way, Cambridge. He was seen driving through five sets of red traffic lights, driving the wrong way round a roundabout and swerving across the roads.
Video footage of Smith's arrest can be viewed on our YouTube channel.
Holding a bottle of beer and swigging from a bottle of vodka, the 34-year-old got out of the driver’s side where he was arrested. In custody further checks revealed he had been disqualified from driving since 2018 and had not completed a test since.
At Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Monday (9 June), Smith, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failure to stop for police, driving otherwise in accordance with a licence, driving without insurance and failure to provide a specimen for analysis.
He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and disqualified from driving for three years and four months.
PC Wadsworth, from the Road Policing Unit, said: “Smith’s driving fell far below the standard of a careful and competent driver and all officers following him witnessed manoeuvres, speeds and actions undertaken by him that could have resulted in serious injury or death to either himself or another member of the public.
“His behaviour was reckless and demonstrated a contempt for the laws, safety on the road and the legal system.”