A drink-driver who hid in the boot of his car after leading police on a high speed night time chase on rural roads has been spared jail.
Officers began to follow 24-year-old Sean Boustead’s black Audi on the outskirts of Kendal, initially suspecting it was speeding. It then turned off on to the A685, just before midnight on August28, and was seen veering across its lane.
A PC activated lights and a siren but Boustead failed to stop, hitting 70mph to 80mph as he entered 30mph Grayrigg. It pulled away and performed a number of dangerous moves on blind bends along country lanes towards Tebay, and went out of sight.
“The pursuit was abandoned because it was deemed too dangerous,” prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court today.
Police went to Boustead’s home and, after another brief pursuit, they found him hiding in the boot of his vehicle.
When interviewed the following morning, the previously convicted drink-driver initially sought to claim other men were driving and had run off.
He came clean after contacting police eight days later, and was sentenced after he admitted drink-driving, dangerous driving and cannabis possession.
The court heard Boustead, of High Lane, Newbiggin-on-Lune, had recently worked on his family’s farm and in a warehouse, and latterly had sought help to address substance misuse.
After hearing mitigation, Judge Nicholas Barker suspended an eight-month prison sentence for two years.
Boustead must complete rehabilitation work and 180 hours’ community service. He also received a 40-month driving ban and must pass an extended re-test.
Judge Barker branded his initial claim — blaming others for the chase — as pathetic, telling Boustead: “Anybody driving at these speeds, that level of intoxication on small, country roads, on blind corners, is a liability and a danger to other road users and, of course, to yourself.”
