Whitchurch driver jailed for 100mph wrong way police chase

A man who led police on a 20-mile car chase – including driving the wrong way down a dual carriageway and colliding with a police car – has been jailed for 10 months.

Bradley Francis Smyth, who drove at speeds of up to 100mph, was told it had been a 'dreadful, dreadful' piece of driving.

Yesterday Shrewsbury Crown Court heard the chase began in the Albrighton area near Shrewsbury at 11.35pm on August 4 last year when the 23-year-old failed to stop for an unmarked police car with its blue lights on.

The court was told the pursuit, which lasted 35 minutes, ended in the Whitchurch area.

Smyth, of Jubilee Court, Whitchurch, had earlier admitted dangerous driving and having no insurance.

He was jailed for 10 months for dangerous driving, and was also banned from driving for two years.

Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said it was on the A49 dual carriageway that the defendant drove on the southbound carriageway whilst heading north towards Whitchurch.

It was at his point that Smyth collided with the police car that had drawn alongside him. The court heard when the Vauxhall Tigra came to a stop Smyth ran off.

A breath test showed 31 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Mr Andrew Holland, for Smyth, said his client genuinely thought he was allowed to drive the car.