JAILED: Dangerous driver banned for the seventh time after speeding off from police
A banned motorist who led police on a high-speed chase through residential streets ignoring several sets of traffic lights has been sent to prison.
Leroy Hall, who has never sat a driving test, was also disqualified from the roads – for the seventh time.
The 26-year-old, of Tipton, was spotted by police on the A4123 Wolverhampton Road at the junction 2 roundabout for the M5 in the early hours of December 21 last year.
The 'tatty condition' of Hall's Volkswagen Golf caught the eye of the police officers on patrol in the area and they noticed he reacted with concern when they pulled up alongside him on the island.
He continued to behave in an 'odd and furtive manner', including sliding down into his seat, before pulling on to the forecourt of a Shell garage. As one of the officers approached his car, Hall revved up and sped away, said Mr John Evans, prosecuting.
The Golf hit speeds of 75mph on Bromford Road and went through two sets of traffic lights showing red, before turning left on to Portway Road where it travelled at double the 30mph speed limit and back on to the Wolverhampton Road.
Mr Evans said: "Due to the time, there was little on the road. Had there been, there would almost certainly have been an collision."
The police car slowed down to take the pressure off Hall, who was carrying a female front-seat passenger, as he approached more red traffic lights but the defendant took no notice and sped through them, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
On Newbury Lane he overtook another vehicle at 50 – 60mph, double the speed limit, and veered off into side streets on a small housing estate.
He emerged back on to Newbury Lane and mounted the pavement, driving down a steep embankment into fields before stopping and running for it but he was caught by police after just a few yards.
The court heard he was only a provisional licence holder and had already been banned six times in less than two years, between May 2015 and March 2017.
Defending him, Mr David Iles said the knowledge he was disqualified 'triggered a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to get away.'
He claimed Hall, who was on an 'urgent mission' after receiving a message that he was about to become a father.
Hall, of Colbourne Road, Dudley Port, Tipton, who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and having no insurance, was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for three years.
Judge Dean Kershaw told him: "You are 26 and have amassed quite a record as regards driving – not just one or two disqualifications but more than six in a relatively short period.
"No one was injured but in going through red lights at speed it is clear you had no regard for other road users."
