Drink driving student sped along M6 at 123mph
A 20-year old student from Wolverhampton is to spend three months in prison after he was caught speeding at 123 miles per hour on the M6.
Ravi Semic of Wolverhampton Street, Bilston, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on April 21 charged with dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Judge Nicholas Webb sentenced Semic to three months behind bars, that would commence on May 31 once he had completed his second year university exams. He was also issued with an immediate disqualification from driving.
The court heard how Semic had been given the white BMW by his mother the day before the offences, which took place at 00.45am on February 13 this year.
Police officers on patrol along the northbound M6 in an unmarked car spotted Semic driving at excessive speed and gave chase until the driver noticed the flashing lights and stopped in lay by.
The officers' dash cam footage showed how the vehicle reached 123 miles per hour at one stage, with the average speed of the car between 105 and 110 miles per hour. The defendant also undertook three vehicles, including a lorry, at 115 miles per hour and only slowed down as he was blocked by a lorry on the A454.
Semic, who worked part time running errands at his fathers motorcar trading business, was breathalysed at the scene and was found to have 40 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35
He admitted to have a couple of pints prior to driving and that he did not have insurance for the vehicle.
Judge Webb said: "This was really bad driving so the entirely right sentence I believe is a custodial one. I do not want you to forgo a year of study so I am going to make the unusual decision to adjourn your sentence until the end of May. By then you will have finished your exams. I hope it will not affect your approach to your exams, but I am sending you to prison after your exams. I am going to adjourn again until May 31. You will be disqualified from driving and when you come back here on May 31, your sentence will run from today, April 21.
"If you are driving in the middle lane and someone comes hurtling past you at this speed, it is startling" Judge Webb added.
