Published date: 18 December 2015 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
A TEENAGE girl panicked when she saw police following her because she had taken a former boyfriend’s vehicle without consent and was a banned driver.
In a bid to shake off the police, Kirsty Ruth Sutherland, 18, drove at speed around country lanes on the outskirts of Wrexham.
She went onto the wrong side of the road on a bend and drove through a red traffic light until she eventually lost control.
Mold Crown Court heard yesterday how the car went into the air, overturned, and ended up on its roof.
Sutherland, who also had a passenger, ran off but was caught and arrested.
She admitted dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and driving while disqualified and without insurance following the incident on October 24.
Sutherland, of Penyllan Farm, Tai Nant, Penycae, near Wrexham, had a previous conviction for dangerous driving.
Judge Rhys Rowlands gave her a 10 month youth custody sentence suspended for 18 months with a curfew under which she will be tagged to remain indoors between 8pm and 7am for the next two months. She was also placed on rehabilitation.
Sutherland was banned from driving for two years and was ordered to sit an extended driving test before she drives again.
Judge Rowlands warned her that if she breached the order then she would be sentenced to custody “as night follows day”,
Prosecutor David Mainstone said Sutherland had been at the home of an ex-boyfriend in Mancot on Deeside, but while he had a shower she took the spare key and drove off in his Peugeot car which was parked on the drive.
Some hours later, shortly after 8.30pm, police saw the car in the Hightown area of Wrexham and followed it to the Erddig area then towards Johnstown.
When they illuminated blue lights and indicated to her to stop, she accelerated away.
Mr Mainstone told how she drove at 45mph down a narrow country lane and did not stop at a junction where she could not see if it was clear. She went around a left hand bend on the wrong side of the road, swerved between two cars at a junction and entered Johnstown, a 30mph restricted area, at 50 mph.
Sparks were seen to be coming from the bottom of the car as she went over speed bumps outside a primary school at speed and she drove through a red traffic light.
She went the wrong way around a traffic island and lost control at the junction of Hafod Road and New Hall Road when the car span, flew into the air, overturned and ended up in a ditch. The vehicle was a right off.
Ceri Evans, defending, said Sutherland was a very young
18-year-old who had acted out of panic and the fear of being caught.
She had pleaded guilty and there were no suggestions of drink or drugs being involved.
Miss Evans said her client had a “particularly torrid year” when she suffered a breakdown and had been diagnosed bipolar.
She had moved back in with supportive parents and was trying to get her life back on track.
Judge Rowlands said it was “deliberate risk taking” to get away from the police.
She had been pursued over a considerable period for some four to five miles when she was a disqualified driver who was not covered by insurance.
He said she came from a good family, they were standing by her, and as a young woman she had shown some talent with horses and ponies.
Sadly she had moved away from that activity and started moving within the wrong crowd.
She was now back helping out voluntarily at stables in the area and the judge said he hoped she would continue as a way of keeping out of trouble in future.
The judge said that “perhaps exceptionally” he had been persuaded to suspend the sentence.
see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/156296/banned-driver-ended-up-crashing-in-bid-to-lose-police.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment