A driver who was clocked doing an astonishing 120mph on the hard shoulder of a motorway has been jailed. Derby Crown Court heard how vehicles had to swerve out of the way to avoid a head-on crash with the Ford Fiesta that Dean Sheard was driving.
Months later, a separate driving incident saw the defendant drag a police officer along the road as he attempted to remove the keys from the ignition. And after being jailed for those two offences, Shard was dealt with for contempt of court when he called the sentencing judge "a t*****" over the video link from prison.
Jailing him for two years, Judge Robert Egbuna said: "You have 13 convictions for 25 offences and you know that you have a good understanding, sadly, of the court system, Derbyshire Live reports.
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"You have complete disregard for the rules of the road and your antecedent history (criminal record) makes it clear you have contempt in regard to court orders. For 20 minutes, with two passengers in your car, you drove extremely dangerously. On the A38 you reached 110mph, on the A52 you reached 120mph and then, on the M1, you drove down the slip road the wrong way onto the hard shoulder.
"Some vehicles had to swerve to avoid you, not surprisingly, to make sure they did not come into collision with you. You were driving when the conditions were wet and luckily for you, no one was injured."
Richardo Childs, prosecuting, said the first piece of dangerous driving began on the A61 near Alfreton when police spotted the Ford which Sheard, of Gower Street, had taken without the owner's consent. He said at first the car was being driven within the speed limit but then quickly accelerated away from the unmarked police car.
The prosecutor said: "Towards Derby he accelerated to 110mph and then through Little Eaton at 70mph before travelling at 60mph in a 30mph limit in Wiltshire Road (Chaddesden). The driving then continued with him doing 110mph in a 50mph and 120mph on the 70mph stretch of the A52 out of Derby towards the M1.
"There, at junction 25, he went the wrong way down the northbound slip road and went on to the M1 and up the hard shoulder the wrong way for two miles. He pulled onto the forecourt of the petrol station at Trowell services, three people got out of the vehicle and the defendant was arrested."
Mr Childs said while on bail for that, Sheard carried out a second incident of dangerous driving when police spotted him sitting in a Mini in Westbury Street, Derby, on May 12. He said on that occasion, the defendant dragged the officer along the road a short distance before crashing into two parked cars.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a valid licence and failing to stop. Justin Ablott, mitigating, said: "He told me he has been glad to be remanded to get clean from drugs. He has been isolated from his family for a number of years but recently a little contact has been re-established.
"He is 46, nearly 47 years of age, and he takes the view that it's now or never."
As his client was sentenced, Sheard swore at the judge before being threatened with being handed extra punishment for contempt of court until he apologised. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
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