A panicking driver who was being chased by the police ended up crashing into a bush. Alan Capell was desperately trying to escape up a narrow single-track lane when he lost control on a blind right-hand bend.
He had already swerved onto a grass verge on the wrong side of the road after he saw another vehicle heading towards him. Hull Crown Court heard Capell ran out of room to pass the on-coming vehicle.
Capell, 52, of Brent Avenue, off Shannon Road, east Hull, admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and driving with only a provisional licence and no insurance on November 21, reports HullLive.
Samantha Laws, prosecuting, said police in an unmarked car spotted Capell driving a Ford Mondeo in Preston village, near Hull, at 4.45pm. They suspected him of committing another unrelated offence and decided to stop him. Another unmarked police vehicle was on the scene.
Police asked Capell to pull over but he did not do so and continued driving slowly at about 17mph. The unmarked police car overtook Capell and pulled in front of him and activated its blue flashing lights.
Capell indicated left to pull over and an officer got out. He then indicated right and drove onto Rectory Lane where he immediately increased his speed.
Because of parked cars, the narrow lane was, in effect, single track and road conditions were very wet. Capell drove at 45mph in a 30mph limit and continued doing so as another vehicle approached in the opposite direction.
His car mounted a grass verge on the wrong side of the road on a blind right-hand bend in order to pass the approaching vehicle. "Police lost sight of the defendant," said Miss Laws. There was another right-hand bend further down the lane and Capell's car was found crashed into a bush.
Capell was revving the engine in an attempt to get out of the bush. Marks around the area indicated that he had been on the wrong side of the road while taking the blind right-hand bend.
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During police interview, Capell did not accept that his driving was dangerous and said that he did not know that it was police because they were in an unmarked car, although he admitted seeing blue flashing lights. Capell had convictions for 26 previous offences, mainly theft-related between 1981 and 2000. He had convictions for having no insurance and driving licence in June 1994 and having no insurance and test certificate in July 2000. He had never held a full driving licence.
Benjamin Donnell, mitigating, said that Capell now accepted that his driving was dangerous, despite what he said during police interview. "He acknowledges that what he did was very stupid and reckless," said Mr Donnell. "He says that he did not recognise that it was a police vehicle."
Capell claimed that he was concerned because he had seen videos on Facebook where a Landover Discovery with blue lights flashing deliberately rammed a van several times.
"He made a stupid, reckless decision, not realising that these were legitimate police vehicles," said Mr Donnell. "It comes down to poor thinking."
Unemployed Capell had responded well to a previous community order and the last time that he had received one of them was 1994. Recorder Felicity Davies told Capell: "It should be obvious that this was reckless and dangerous and the prospect of you causing an accident was considerable. One imagines that you caused some alarm to the oncoming vehicle. You ended up colliding with a bush, not doing any damage
"Your speed, while considerably higher than it should have been, was not the worst. It's not by any means the worst that the court has heard of."
Capell was given 180 hours' unpaid work and 12 days' rehabilitation. He was banned from driving for one year and must pass an extended retest before he can drive legally again. He was ordered to pay £120 costs.
