[A] DRUG-driver who clocked 100mph during a police chase near Carlisle has been spared an immediate prison term.
Robert Williams, 24, was seen travelling at 50mph through a 30mph area in Moorhouse, west of the city, just after 11pm on September 1.
But Williams, behind the wheel of a Seat Leon, failed to stop when a police vehicle’s blue lights and sirens were activated. He reached 90-100mph on a rural road with officers in pursuit, and his disc brakes were seen “sparking” before he lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Williams was under the influence of cocaine. Tests showing 10 times the permitted amount of benzoylecgonine – a metabolite of the class A drug – in his system.
Williams, a man of previous good character, was the subject of a positive probation service report having admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and drug-driving. He was said by his barrister to have made “one mistake – and a very serious mistake”, but had “learned his lesson”.
After hearing all submissions, Recorder Andrew Jefferies QC suspended a six-month prison term for 12 months, and must complete a rehabilitation requirement. Williams, of Trinity Buildings, Carlisle, was handed a year’s driving ban and must take an extended re-test.
