Cambridge woman sentenced after drug-driving and police chase
Driver fled officers in dangerous late-night pursuit through residential streets
A Cambridge woman who led police on a late-night chase after testing positive for cannabis has been sentenced.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on 22nd June, when officers spotted a white Audi Q3 being driven erratically on Ditton Lane.
The vehicle accelerated onto the A14, reaching speeds over 85mph before leaving the carriageway at Milton and undertaking another car on the slip road. It was stopped on Milton Road, where the driver, 29-year-old Shalishah Spencer of Ramsden Square, tested positive for cannabis during a roadside drug wipe.
When police attempted to arrest Spencer, she locked her car and fled, prompting a short pursuit through residential streets. During the chase, she mounted a pavement, drove over grass, and eventually abandoned the vehicle before fleeing on foot.
Evidential samples revealed Spencer had 5.8 ug/L of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in her system, nearly three times the legal limit of 2ug/L.
At Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on 9th December, she pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, obstructing a constable, and drug driving. Spencer received a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and was disqualified from driving for 17 months.
PC Alex Thomas, from the Road Policing Unit, said, “Although the pursuit only lasted about a minute, the manner of Spencer’s driving was undoubtedly dangerous. It was below that of a careful and competent driver and showed total disregard for any other road users.”