A driver who hit 153mph during an M6 police chase has been given a 12-month prison sentence.
Piotr Bogzdiewicz, 46, was also over the drink-drive limit during the incident which began in Lancashire at around 5am on June 3 close to Junction 27 as he travelled north in an Audi A6.
Bogzdiewicz drove away from police at speeds of up to 153mph and performed a number of hard shoulder undertakes.
Judge Nicholas Barker observed at Carlisle Crown Court: “So dangerous did that pursuit become that the Lancashire Constabulary tactical unit gave instructions to police officers to abandon it for the risk of serious injury, not just to Bogzdiewicz but to other road users.
“This was particularly as the chase was approaching a restricted speed and restricted lane part of the motorway.”
As Bogzdiewicz sped on, Cumbria police then took up the chase, between junctions 36 and 40, when a pursuing officer’s speed topped 140mph in pursuit.
The defendant performed more undertaking. Officers deployed a stinger device in a bid to stop the driver, who stopped to avoid running into it and was detained near Penrith.
When arrested he was found to be over the drink-drive limit. A reading showed 45 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 35mcg.
Police searched Bogzdiewicz’s vehicle and found a starting pistol.
Just weeks earlier, Bogzdiewicz had been made subject to a two-year conditional discharge for previous possession of an imitation firearm.
When brought to court after the June incident, he admitted two counts of dangerous driving, imitation firearm possession and drink-driving.
A defence barrister said Bogzdiewicz, a married dad, was in distress at the time amid strained personal and business circumstances.
“He accepts that what he did was utterly inexcusable,” said his lawyer, Paul Douglass. “He tells me that he feels remorse what he has done.”
Recorder Julian Shaw imposed an immediate 12-month jail term for what he said was ridiculous driving.
It had been a prolonged and persistent course of dangerous driving with highly dangerous manoeuvres, said Recorder Shaw, who added: “It was more than double the speed limit at speeds where the reaction time and ability — albeit of an Audi A6 motor car — to avoid a catastrophic and calamitous accident was reduced.”
Bogzdiewicz, of Garner Close, Brampton, near Huntingdon, must serve a 15-month driving ban when released from custody, and pass an extended retest before his licence is returned.
