A police union has blasted a decision to spare a boozed-up drug driver from jail after he drove on the wrong side of the road in a high-speed pursuit.
Jamie Jones led police on a terrifying 16-mile chase in July, twice evading a police stinger device and driving around roundabouts the wrong way.
At one stage during the pursuit from St Asaph through Rhuallt Hill, he drove at 70mph on the wrong side of the road and at 90mph along the A55, Mold Crown Court heard.
Last week, Judge Niclas Parry said there were good grounds to take “a leap of faith”, and gave Jones a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years to get his life together.
It was slammed by the North Wales Police Federation (NWPF) on the Police Oracle website as “unduly lenient”.
Jones, 28, of Pleasant View in Froncysyllte near Wrexham, was also placed on rehabilitation and sent on a drugs course, banned from driving for two and a half years and ordered to take an extended driving test.
He admitted dangerous driving in a silver VW Polo, failing to provide a specimen, failing to stop, having no driving licence and no insurance.
The court also heard Jones had just been released from prison and had previously been banned from driving three times.
A spokesman for the NWPF said: “It seems that Jones has taken conscious decisions in this case to increase the risks, probably in the knowledge that his actions in placing other motorists at risk will normally cause the police to back off or cease the pursuit.
“Taking into account those factors and his appalling record, it amazes me that any judge would take ‘a leap of faith’ to leave him at large to reoffend within our communities.
“I would have thought that the ability to access alcohol and cocaine would be less in Her Majesty’s Prison than on the streets of Wrexham.
“I just hope that no other police officers or members of the public are put at risk by this sentence, which seems unduly lenient taking into account the apparent failure of this man to curb his offending over a number of years.”
During the sentencing, Judge Parry said he had considered an assessment from the drugs service.
“This was a shocking case of dangerous driving over a significant distance,” he said.
“I bear in mind that the long-term protection of the public and road users would be best served by the opportunity to address serious drug and alcohol problems, which I am told you are minded to address.”
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/sentence-wrexham-drug-driver-high-11844687
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