A dangerous Carlisle driver who caused police to hit 91mph as they battled to keep up with him on a main city road has been spared immediate prison.
A judge heard Rory Dunn Gourlay Thompson, 33, had been punished twice in 2015, first for dangerous and then careless driving after making “reckless and impulsive decisions” following an traumatic family bereavement.
Then, just after midnight on May 16 this year, he was back in trouble as police saw his black BMW 5 series “weaving and swerving” across central white lines on London Road.
Police reacted but Thompson didn’t stop, instead heading into the city. He then mounted a pavement, sped through several red lights, entered a bus lane and forced other motorists to take evasive action. He also travelled at twice the 20mph speed limit on narrow residential South Street before heading back onto London Road.
“The police vehicle reaches 91mph to maintain observations,” prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told Carlisle Crown Court today.
After Thompson performed a U-turn he drove out of sight and crashed into the wall of his own driveway. When police arrived he was unsteady on his feet with slurred speech, refused to take a breath test and was “unco-operative”, leading to his arrest.
Thompson, of Cavaghan Gardens, Carlisle, admitted dangerous driving and failing to provide a breath specimen. The court heard the promising sportsman accepted being intoxicated by alcohol and Tramadol, and had begun prescribed the latter having suffered a severe injury before becoming addicted.
Learning of Thompson’s progress in addressing drink and drug issues, positive references and his “stable and strong” employment, Recorder Kate Bex suspended a nine-month jail term for two years. Thompson was banned from driving for two years, must pass an extended test and complete a drug rehabilitation requirement and 100 hours’ unpaid work.
Recorder Bex said: “The fact that you were driving at all in the state you were in is appalling. That you were travelling at those sorts of speeds in the state you were in beggars belief.”
