Car insurance news
High-speed pursuit ends in jail sentence
A court has heard how a man with no car insurance drove at speeds of more than 100mph as he led police on a 17-mile chase along narrow Yorkshire roads.
In addition to having no motor insurance, David Whiteman also had his girlfriend and young son in the car when he sped through numerous red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road, causing oncoming vehicles to swerve to avoid a collision.
Police officers who were involved in the chase told how the 37-year-old drove erratically through Wakefield and Pontefract and was seen to overtake a traffic jam at nearly 95mph, jumping a red light in the process.
Appearing at Leeds Crown Court, Whiteman pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without a licence or car insurance. He was sentenced to 15 months in jail and banned from the road for four years.
Defending Whiteman, Michael Collins explained how his client claimed to have thought he was being chased by a man who had previously attacked him, but when he realised it was actually the police he panicked because of his lack of car insurance.
Sentencing him, Judge Ian Dobkin said, "It was a mercy nobody was hurt or killed."