A man has been sentenced following a dangerous pursuit through Harrogate earlier this year.
Cameron Bradley appeared at York Crown Court yesterday (Thursday), charged with multiple offences.
Bradley, 24, of Loch trool way in Bathgate, was handed a ten-month prison sentence which is suspended for 18 months.
He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving otherwise than in accordance with licence, failing to stop for the police, driving with no insurance and drug driving.
Shortly before 11pm on Tuesday 4th March, officers attempted to stop the vehicle Bradley was in, a blue Ford Focus, on Leeds Road in Harrogate but he fled from officers.
A roads policing vehicle safely followed the Focus along the A61 towards Leeds, despite numerous instances of dangerous driving manoeuvres.
In total, the pursuit lasted for eight minutes before Bradley collided with a kerb outside Leeds Grammar School.
He then ran from the scene, but police air support (NPAS) had already scrambled and were quickly overhead to guide officers in to make the arrest.
Investigating and pursuing officer, Traffic Constable Gary Dukes, of North Yorkshire Police's Roads Policing Group, said:
“Bradley's shocking manner of driving was extremely dangerous, putting members of the public and himself at great risk of serious injury or worse.
“North Yorkshire Police will not tolerate such appalling, life-threatening driving and it is right that he has been taken off the roads."
Following his arrest, Bradley was subjected to a roadside drugs wipe. He was taken to hospital where a blood specimen analysis was completed which showed he was over the specified limit for cocaine.
Bradley had a provisional only licence, no insurance and the Focus had no MOT. He was later interviewed when he admitted dangerous driving and drug driving.
Constable Gary Dukes added:
“Road safety is a key priority for the force and we'll continue to be relentless in our approach against anyone who puts the safety of members of the public at risk.
“Anyone who thinks they can evade arrest by driving dangerously needs to think again. We will use all our powers to remove you from the roads including the deployment of our highly-skilled pursuit-trained officers."
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