Good Samaritans led police pursuit after suspect took patrol car
The bizarre incident unfolded after stockily built Keiran George, 33, had dramatically crashed his car on a roundabout next to an M6 junction in south Cumbria in the early hours of November 19 last year, Carlisle[1] Crown Court heard. Then, having miraculously escaped injury, he began fighting with the two British Transport police officers who arrested him because he was desperate to find his dog, a Shar Pei called Wrinkles. After a struggle, the two officers overpowered and handcuffed him before putting George in the rear of their patrol car.
But in an astonishing turn of events, as the officers searched for equipment that they had dropped during the struggle, the detained suspect wriggled into the front of the unoccupied police car and drove away. A couple who witnessed the roadside drama and found the missing dog then offered to help the stranded officers, chasing after the fleeing police car as George drove up and down the motorway at speeds of more than 90mph. He eventually abandoned the police car but was arrested a few days later.
In court, the defendant, of Highgate, Kendal, admitted escaping from lawful custody, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified, and assaulting an emergency worker, namely a police officer. Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson outlined the facts of what the judge said was clearly an extraordinary case. He said the drama began at around 1.15am.
The two British Transport police officer - PC Jack Mottershead and special constable Niall Spence - were parked on a motorway bridge next to Junction 36 of the M6 because they had just returned a missing 14-year-old girl to her parents. Their Peugeot police patrol car was parked nearby. As the officers were talking to the child's father, they heard a loud bang, and turned to see a car had crashed into the barrier next to the nearby roundabout, the vehicle flipping and rolling before coming to a halt.
The crash left debris scattered across the site. To everybody's surprise, the defendant managed to walk away from the crash, commenting: "I don't know what happened there." Because he seemed agitated, the officers arrested him on suspicion of drink driving.
Wrinkles had also escaped from the crash without being injured but then scampered away and George was desperate to find it, said Mr Rogerson. The prosecutor said: "The defendant was physically strong - so much so that the officers were struggling to control him. "There was a smell of intoxicant liquor coming from Mr George and when asked if he had been drinking, he replied: 'I've had a drink.'"
But as the officers tried to handcuff him, he resisted forcefully, becoming violent, at one point the two officers and George ended up on the ground and the defendant threw one of the officers on to the ground. They eventually used Pava spray on the defendant and managed to handcuff him, getting the cuffs on behind George's back before putting him into the rear of their car. It was as they were looking for their dropped kit - including a missing police radio - that the two officers realised George had somehow got his hands from behind his back and jumped into the front of the police car.
He drove off at speed, with the blue lights and sirens activated. It was at this point that a couple, David and Elizabeth Wills, from Lytham St Annes, who had stopped to help the officers, and who retrieved Wrinkles, offered to drive the two stranded officers after the fleeing suspect. The officers duly climbed into the rear of their people carrier and the four set off after George.
The pursuit lasted 27 minutes, the court heard. Initially, George drove south along the M6 before exiting the motorway and then heading north along the motorway back towards Junction 36. At one point, said Mr Rogerson, Mr Wills asked the police officers if it was okay to exceed the speed limit.
The police estimated that George drove the patrol car at speeds of between 90mph and 100mph before leaving the Peugeot near to Junction 36 and fleeing. The court heard that George had 14 previous offences on his record, including drug possession and failing to provide a specimen. At the time of the offences before the court, he was serving a 24-month driving ban.
Sarah Magill, defending, said of George's decision to flee in the police car: "This was an impulsive decision to escape and it was short lived." The defendant had not intended to drive that evening. Having been to a wedding, he was persuaded to drink. "When he's in drink," said the barrister, "his behaviour is extremely negative.
He ran into an old friend at the wedding and was persuaded to drink. "He's a personal trainer and takes care of himself and usually does not drink. "But when he does drink, his behaviour is extremely negative and he was incredibly intoxicated on this day - to the point where he can't really remember what happened - or much of what happened after the crash."
After the crash, with the dog in the car, George became obsessed with finding his missing dog and he kept screaming: "Where's my dog?" Having seen the police body-worn footage of how he behaved that day, George now felt disgusted with himself. Miss Magill said the police assault charge arose from the defendant physically resisting arrest rather than punching or kicking or headbutting the officers.
It was "intentional aggressive resistance" rather than a deliberate assault. Recorder Julian Shaw highlighted the commendable behaviour of the couple who had agreed to pursue George in their car. Having come across the officers' roadside struggle, they were distressed and offered to help.
First they dialled 999 but then offered more help when George drove away in the police car, with its lights flashing and sirens sounding. The judge told George: "Mr Wills and his wife offered assistance to the police and they gratefully accepted that assistance, climbing into the Wills' car and proceeding to follow down the M6 as you drove at grossly excessive speed." As her husband drove, Mrs Wills made a video of the pursuit on her mobile phone to record evidence of what was happening.
Recorder Shaw jailed the defendant for 14 months and imposed a 31-month driving ban. The judge added: "The court has been struck in this case by the extraordinary conduct and public-spirited behaviour of Mr and Mrs Wills. "It would be wrong in this court's estimation for that behaviour to go unrecognised.
"Accordingly, I direct that the High Sheriff of Cumbria should pay GBP100 to Mr and Mrs Wills for his and his wife's actions towards the apprehension of this defendant.
"Such a sum seems to be a reasonable token of compensation for their extraordinary exertions in this defendant's apprehension."