A drugged-up driver led police on a 20-mile high-speed chase during which he deliberately hit three cop cars. Chip shop worker Jamie Adams raced along Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire roads at speeds touching 110mph and even after having the front tyres of his car punctured by police continued to drive at breakneck speeds on just the bare rims of the wheels. At one stage he slammed into the side of a police car which had parked across the road to block his path.
When police managed to box in the defendant's car and bring the pursuit to an end he was found to have a cocktail of drugs in his system including ketamine, cocaine, cannabis and Valium with the reading for ketamine being 14 times over the legal driving limit.
Swansea Crown Court heard the chase took place in the early hours of April 12 this year and began with what appeared to be a routine traffic stop on the A477 near Stepaside in Pembrokeshire. Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said at first Adams seemed compliant and cooperative but when an officer leaned into his car through the open driver's door to talk to him there was a strong smell of cannabis. Without warning Adams started the engine of his BMW and drove off with the officer still leaning through the door and the prosecutor said there was "a real risk the officer could have been dragged under the car and far more serious injury caused". As the 31-year-old defendant drove away he collided with the rear off-side of the police car which was parked in front of him.
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The court heard the incident was the start of a 20-mile high-speed chase which saw Adams racing at speeds of up to 110mph along the A477 and A40. The court heard that on a number of occasions the defendant tried to lose his police pursuers by leaving the main roads and driving through country lanes and unclassified roads around Llanteg, Red Roses, and Pendine at speeds of up to 60mph – at one stage going straight over a crossroads with an A road without slowing down. A number of attempts were made to bring the chase to a halt and during one of these Adams deliberately reversed into one of the pursuing police cars as he escaped.
The court heard that by now a major police response was being coordinated to stop the defendant and as part of that plan a stinger tyre-puncturing device was positioned in St Clears while an officer parked her car across the road beyond the device in order to block the fleeing driver. The stinger blew the front tyres on Adams' car but he continued to race through the town and drove straight into the side of the officer's car, causing it to spin around in the carriageway and leaving it with "extensive" off-side damage. Read about a man who once taunted officers with photo of himself standing next to a police vehicle.
Despite the tyres on his car deflating and then shredding and flying off the defendant continued to drive at speeds hitting 60mph along the A40 towards Carmarthen. The pursuit continued eastward for another 10 minutes with Adams' car now running on just the rims before officers were able to position a number of police cars around him and box him in near the Tenby Road Service Station and bring the pursuit to an end. Officers jumped from their cars with one drawing his Taser and shining the red laser target on the defendant.
Subsequent tests showed Adams had a cocktail of five different drugs in his system including ketamine, cocaine, cannabis, and Valium. The levels of cocaine and ketamine were over the legal driving limits with the ketamine being 14 times over the limit. However the results of the tests were not known when Adams was charged for the driving offence so he was not charged with drug-driving.
The court heard the driver of the police car which the defendant rammed was not badly injured in the smash and was able to drive the vehicle away – in fact she was driving it to a garage when she passed the defendant being arrested at the roadside and stopped to help colleagues. The cost of the damage to the police car was put at £2,500.
Adams, of Kimberley Terrace, Georgetown, Tredegar, admitted dangerous driving. He has previous convictions including two for drug-driving.
Dan Griffiths, for Adams, said the only explanation the defendant could give for his actions was that he "panicked" when first stopped because he knew he had taken drugs and, "on the spur of the moment", decided to drive off. He said an addiction to Class A drugs lay at the root of Adams' previous offending and that when his parents had decided to move from Gwent to west Wales he had followed them in order to get away from the people he had been associating with. The advocate said Adams found work in a chip shop after moving west but realised he had let himself down with his actions on the night in question. Mr Griffiths added that his client had started an Open University course during his last prison sentence and was hopeful of finishing it during the inevitable period in custody he was facing.
Recorder Carl Harrison described what the defendant did as "an appalling example of dangerous driving" which read like a list of almost all the aggravating factors associated with the offence. He told Adams he had risked not only his life and the lives of the pursuing officers but the lives of all road users. The court heard there are no sentencing guidelines for the offence of dangerous driving but that the maximum sentence available is one of two years in prison.
With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Adams was sentenced to 14 months in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to the serve the remainder in the community. Adams was banned from driving for four and a half year, and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.
Speaking after the sentencing Dyfed-Powys Police roads policing PC Robin Benbow said: "Adams drove dangerously and at speed with no regard for the safety of anyone else who may have been on the roads. He routinely swerved to prevent officers overtaking and carrying out manoeuvres to bring him to a stop and damaged three police vehicles in his desperate attempts to evade arrest. Even when his tyres had been taken out he tried to get away and continued to drive at speed. Through good teamwork officers patiently waited to take their chance to safely bring this chase to a stop."
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