Street racing near East Midlands Airport lands driver in court
Undercover police monitoring a car meet near East Midlands Airport,[1] pulled over a 20-year-old VW Golf driver who had been racing another car up the A453. Joshua Warr had gone to the meet after learning about it online and raced against another Golf on the dual carriageway, closely followed by an unmarked police car. The Leicestershire Police[2] officers reported that the two cars lined up next to each other at a red traffic light at the roundabout near the Moto Services by the airport before speeding off when the lights turned green.
Numerous other vehicles were parked in the services exit road and there were pedestrians watching from the verge. Leicester Magistrates’ Court[3] heard how the cars “launched off, racing down the road at speeds in excess of 90mph” with the other car undertaking Warr’s VW before Warr got ahead again before they reached the next roundabout. They were close together as they went around the roundabout, prosecutor Ravinder Daroch told the magistrates.
She said: “The cars were in close proximity and going at excessive speed around the roundabout, accelerating harshly as if they were on a race track. They’ve been driving quite carelessly.” Warr was pulled over by the police officers and at the court hearing he pleaded guilty to careless driving and having illegally-tinted number plates.
A further charge of dangerous driving was dropped by the prosecution. Eve Patterson, representing Carr, said: “There was a car meet between car enthusiasts and Mr Warr found out about it and has gone along intending to speak to other car enthusiasts. His excitement has got the better of him and he got involved with what other people were doing in terms of driving in the area.”
She said that while Carr, of Beckingthorpe Drive, Bottesford, in the Vale of Belvoir, had been going at excessive speed, the only other vehicles in the area were also people at the event and the roads were otherwise empty at the time of the incident at about 9pm on Sunday, August 2. But the chair of the bench, Timothy Gidley-Wright, told Warr it was just luck there was no accident. He said: “That is simply a question of luck.
The very serious nature of this is the fact that you had driven very fast and had been in some sort of race.
“That is incredibly dangerous and that is something you need to never do again.”
Warr was given six points on his licence, fined GBP226 and ordered to pay GBP85 court costs and a GBP90 victim surcharge.
References
- ^ East Midlands Airport, (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ Leicestershire Police (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ Leicester Magistrates’ Court (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ Chaos and violence as Leicestershire man rows with aunt over GBP80 debt (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)