A DANGEROUS driver has been jailed after a high speed police chase through Leamington town centre.
Harry Anthony Pierce from Aylesford Street in Leamington was sentenced to 10 months in prison and banned from driving for 36 months for dangerous driving, when he appeared at Warwick Crown Court on Friday March 8.
The 29-year-old was also ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge and must take an extended retest before he can drive again.
He came to the attention of officers at 5pm on July 1 2023 as he was showing off doing a wheel spin at a set of traffic lights with another car in Leamington.
He failed to stop his silver Skoda Fabia in Baker Avenue when indicated by an officer in an unmarked black Peugeot who wanted to have a word with him. Instead he sped off driving dangerously.
The officer followed Pierce who had a 19-year-old female passenger with him, onto Tachbrook Road, Queensway, Heathcote Lane, Othello Avenue to Bishops Tachbrook, B4100, Fosseway, Gaydon, and Kineton as he reached speeds of over 90mph and jumped red lights.
He was eventually arrested on Fishers Road in the centre of Bishops Itchington after he crashed into barriers put in place to close off the village centre for their carnival.
He was later charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without insurance and without a driving licence.
He pleaded guilty to the offences at Leamington Magistrates Court on February 9 where he received an interim disqualification from driving until his sentence.
PC Craig Wonfor said: “The centre of Leamington town was very busy with shoppers and people enjoying the local hospitality venues and Pierce showed no regard for their safety as he sped off through the town. His dangerous driving continued for several miles until we were able to bring it to a safe conclusion in Bishops Itchington with his arrest.
“Fortunately no one was injured and as an officer who witnesses the devastation caused to families by collisions, I am pleased his sentence has removed him from the roads for the next few years.”
