A DRIVER who hit 100mph-plus in his dad’s BMW with police in pursuit was spared jail but told by a judge: “What you did was selfish and dangerous.”
An officer began to follow 28-year-old Dean Eric Mallinson as he sped along the A6071 between Longtown and Smithfield just before midnight on December 4.
Mallinson was seen to take “racing lines” and stray away from his side of the carriageway on a stretch comprising long straights and gentle bends.
Police regularly topped 100mph without significantly closing the gap on Mallinson, who then entered Smithfield at 65mph, failed to stop after the PC activated blue lights and then turned off the main road. Prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court: “The defendant could then have been under no illusion it was a police vehicle that was following and seeking to stop him.”
Mallinson, of Kirklinton, was said to have abandoned the vehicle and fled across fields but was recognised and later arrested.
He admitted dangerous driving and told the court today (TUES) he’d “panicked” having not initially known for sure his pursuers were the police. “Obviously I will pay the price for what I have done,” he told Recorder Tom Gilbart.
At the time of the offence, Mallinson was on licence having been released from a prison sentence he received for a one-punch Carlisle club attack on a Royal Marine he’d later offered a cash bribe to “drop the charges”.
After hearing mitigation from Mallinson, Recorder Gilbart suspended an eight-month jail term for 18 months and ordered him to complete a thinking skills course, rehabilitation, 200 hours’ unpaid work, a two-year driving ban and extended re-test.
“You should be utterly ashamed of himself,” said Recorder Gilbart. “Roads are not a race track. What you did was selfish and dangerous, and what you did out others at risk.
“The offence is mitigated by the fact no damage or injury was caused. But that is no thanks to you.”
