A motorist with a "dreadful" record for drink-driving and driving while disqualified led police on a chase through residential streets after attending a popular carnival. Amir Khan drove through red traffic lights, went the wrong way down one-way streets, and forced other drivers to take evasive action as he tried to get away from pursuing officers. When the 28-year-old was eventually stopped he was found to be three times over the drink-drive limit.
Sending the defendant to prison and banning him from driving for the next five and a half years a judge said Khan had risked not only his own life but the lives of his passengers, the police, and other road users. Cardiff Crown Court heard that on the night of August 29 this year police in Newport were told to look out for a black Vauxhall Corsa which had failed to stop earlier that evening. Jason Howells, prosecuting, said the vehicle was spotted at 9.50pm on Caerau Road in the Baneswell area of the city by an officer in an unmarked car who began to follow it. The court heard Khan initially drove "normally" but when the officer illuminated his car's blue lights and signalled for him to pull over he sped away. For the next 10 minutes the defendant raced at speeds touching 60mph through the residential streets of Baneswell, Stow Hill, and the Gaer, going through red traffic lights, driving the wrong way along one-way streets, and forcing other motorist to take evasive action to avoid collisions.
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Eventually Khan slowed down and came to a stop near Belle Vue Park and the pursuing police units were able to box in the Corsa and detain the drover. A subsequent breath test showed Khan was three times the drink drive limit and checks showed he was a disqualified driver. The court heard police spoke to the front-seat passenger of the Vauxhall who told them they had been to Pill Carnival earlier that day and that he had tried to get Khan to stop the car and had been scared by the way he was driving. Read about a driver who has never passed his test and who led police on 70mph chase before crashing into car.
Amir Khan, of Ruperra Street, Newport, admitted dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance. He has nine previous convictions for 18 offences including aggravated vehicle-taking, three for driving while disqualified, and five for driving with excess alcohol. In May this year he was given a 16-week suspended prison sentence and was banned from driving for four and a half years for drink-driving and driving while disqualified. His latest conviction put him in breach of that suspended sentence.
Scott Bowen, for Khan, said the defendant accepted he should not have been behind the wheel at all on the day in question and that the way he drove after being signalled to stop by the police was an "act of extreme stupidity". He said while not seeking to downplay the seriousness of what Khan had done it was not the worst example of dangerous driving which had come before the court and he noted his client had eventually "come to his senses" and brought the pursuit to an end.
Judge Paul Hobson told Khan that he had driven dangerously and at speed while banned, three times the alcohol limit, and uninsured and he had put not only his own life at risk but also the lives of his passengers, the pursuing police officers, and other road users. He said the defendant had a "dreadful" record for driving offences and said it was clear he had learned nothing from the suspended sentence imposed just three months earlier.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Khan was sentenced to a total of 52 weeks in prison comprising 52 weeks for the dangerous driving, 12 weeks for driving while disqualified, and 12 weeks for driving while disqualified all to run concurrently. No separate penalty was imposed for driving without insurance. The judge also activated the full 16 weeks of the previously-imposed suspended sentence to run consecutively to the 52 making an overall sentence of 68 weeks in prison. Khan will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was disqualified from driving for a total of 67 months and must pass an extended test before he can get a licence.
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