‘Menace’ led police on terrifying high-speed chase through Nottinghamshire countryside

A Ford Transit driver who led police on a white knuckle chase through Nottinghamshire [1] has been described as "a menace on the roads".

Nottingham Crown Court [2] heard how, during the long pursuit, Michael Cash reached 80mph in 30mph areas.

The 34-year-old also went the wrong way around a roundabout before he and his passenger started throwing tools from the vehicle at the chasing police car in a failed bid to escape. Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

The defendant, of no fixed address,[3] then crashed through two gates at a fishery before coming to an abrupt stop when the van hit a bollard.

Cash ran off, but the police called out their helicopter and dog unit, and they tracked him down.

Jailing him for 21 months, Judge Steven Coupland said: "Plainly only immediate custody is appropriate for what you did.

"It demonstrates that you are a menace on the roads and someone who has no respect for court sentences. Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement

"This was a deliberate decision on your part to ignore the rules of the road, and you carried out a number of highly dangerous manoeuvres while travelling at excessive speeds."

Amelia Trem, prosecuting, said the police [4] came across the van being driven by Cash on the northbound M1 in Nottinghamshire at around 9.40pm on December 1, last year.

She said it was believed the driver was disqualified and as they followed him, he carried a number of "evasive motions" which they saw as testing to see if he was being followed by the police.

The prosecutor said officers illuminated their blue lights, the defendant accelerated away, and the chase began.

Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement

Miss Trem said: "It was dark, the roads were wet with visible puddles, and there were a number of other road users.

"During the pursuit, he went on the wrong side of the road, drove at excessive speeds, including 80mph in a 30mph limit, and went the wrong way around a roundabout.

"At one stage, tools were thrown by the occupants of the van towards the police car.

"At 10.46pm, the van deliberately smashed through two sets of locked gates at a fishery, and then it crashed into a bollard."

The prosecutor said the force helicopter and the dogs section then had to be called out to help locate Cash, who had ran away. Advertisement Advertisement

He was arrested and initially denied being the driver, but later pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, criminal damage, driving without a licence, and failing to stop.

At the time, he was on licence from a previous conviction for offences including dangerous driving, drink-driving and drug-driving.

William Bennett, mitigating, said: "I do not want to be accused of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, but there is no evidence my client was highly impaired(to drive).

"He was disqualified, and he should not have been behind the wheel of a car.

"The only real mitigation I can put forward is he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity."

In addition to the jail term, the judge disqualified the defendant from driving for three years and nine months.

References

^ Nottinghamshire (www.nottinghampost.com)
^ Nottingham Crown Court (www.nottinghampost.com)
^ The defendant, of no fixed address, (www.nottinghampost.com)
^ police (www.nottinghampost.com)