A wanted man who hit double the speed limit as he sought to evade police during a daytime chase on a busy Carlisle road has been jailed.
Heavily-convicted Andrew Mitchell, 33, was spotted by PCs behind the wheel of a silver Ford Focus on London Road — heading into the city — at around 10-30am on April 16 last year.
Officers decided to stop and speak to Mitchell. But as they activated blue lights and the siren, he performed an erratic U-turn at speed in front of oncoming traffic.
Mitchell motored away south along London Road, hitting 60mph in a 30mph zone. He travelled on the wrong side of the road despite a high volume of oncoming vehicles, crossing the junction with Eastern Way.
Carlisle Crown Court heard today that the officers halted their pursue, deeming it too dangerous to continue.
But they caught up with Mitchell again on the outskirts of Dalston, using a stinger device to stop the Focus while other police vehicle boxed the car in. “He was taken from his vehicle and he was arrested,” said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson.
Mitchell, of Ullswater Road, Carlisle, admitted dangerous driving when brought to magistrates’ court but, after his case was committed for sentence to the city’s crown court, he failed to appear in front of a judge to receive his punishment.
He handed himself in to magistrates on Friday, when he was handed a 13-week jail term for two shoplifting crimes.
And today (tues) he attended the crown court remotely over a video link from custody to finally face the music for his dangerous driving.
Judge Nicholas Barker observed that Mitchell had a “bad” criminal record which featured past driving crimes but, chiefly, dishonesty offences.
Kim Whittlestone, defending, said Mitchell’s record reflected his struggles with heroin addiction over many years. “It was a relative short journey,” Miss Whittlestone said of the driving in April last year. “Thankfully no damage to other road users and he has pleaded guilty.”
Judge Nicholas Barker jailed Mitchell for six months. He added 10 days, consecutively, for failing to attend court. And he ordered that Mitchell must serve a 30-month driving ban when released from custody, and pass an extended test before his licence is returned.
