WHEN police tried to stop a Rugby man over of the way he was driving, he panicked because he had cannabis in the car and led them on a three-mile pursuit.
And during the chase Nathan Douglas drove through the village of Clifton-on-Dunsmore at 70mph before having to stop when a tyre burst after he lost control.
The 27 year-old of Howkins Road, Rugby, was jailed for 13 months and disqualified for 30 months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to dangerous driving and possessing cannabis.
He was also given consecutive sentences of one month and one week for two further offences of failing to surrender to his bail at the court.
Prosecutor Marcus Harry said that in May last year police officers in an unmarked car saw a Mercedes and a Honda Civic which appeared to be racing each-other along the A426 at about 9pm.
The officers began to follow the car and, after a short distance, put on their blue light to get the drivers to stop – but instead they both drove off at speed.
Douglas in the Mercedes overtook the Civic and sped off, so the officers set off in pursuit in a chase which continued for around three miles.
On one occasion Douglas went straight across a junction without stopping, driving ‘all over the road’ along Newton Manor Lane.
At one point he tried to overtake another car, only to have to slam on his brakes and pull back in to avoid a collision with an oncoming vehicle.
As he entered Clifton-on-Dunsmore the Mercedes began fishtailing, but he continued through the village, which has a 30mph speed limit, at 70 before losing control in Lilbourne Road.
As he struggled to regain control of the Mercedes it mounted the kerb, causing one of its tyres to blow out, so he finally stopped and was arrested.
In the car the officers found 18.7 grams of cannabis, and Douglas admitted he had been smoking the drug before the chase.
Douglas, whose convictions included two for failing to comply with community orders, twice failed to turn up at court after being granted bail.
Lee Marklew, defending, conceded: “His idiotic action led to a crash, and it was only good fortune that he and any member of the public were not injured.
“He has been entrenched in a cycle of abuse of cannabis, and he says he feels much better for having now come away from it after being remanded in custody for some time.
“He’s been very upset in custody. His boy was born on February 20. That’s the reason why he kept avoiding the courts, because he wanted to be with his partner and feared he wouldn’t be given bail.”
