'Idiot' teenage dad who led police on dangerous chase from Shifnal to Wolverhampton in high-powered Audi avoids prison
A “idiot” teenage dad who led police on a car chase from Shifnal to Wolverhampton in a high-powered Audi has avoided jail.
Dangerous driver Alfie Smith, aged 19, mounted the kerb as officers tried to box him in, went the wrong way around roundabouts and drove round bends in the wrong lane in the early-hours pursuit.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told how an Audi S5 had been detected on an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera in Shifnal in the early hours of June 27 this year.
Police approached the vehicle at about 2.30am but the Audi made off at speed towards Junction 3 of the M54.
They followed the Audi onto the A41 along Wergs Road, Wolverhampton before it turned off into Yew Tree Lane, Tettenhall.
It was doing 43mph in a 30mph zone and went the wrong way around a roundabout before entering Broad Lane.
Police deployed a stinger to burst Smith’s tyres, but he carried on driving even with the tyres punctured.
Officers tried to box Smith nearby in Jeffcock Road, making contact with the Audi.
Smith tried to get away and mounted the kerb, before his car was eventually stopped.
He tried to make a run for it, but officers soon arrested him.
Officers tested Smith for drugs at the side of the road and it came back positive for cannabis. However, at the police station, he refused to give officers an evidential sample of blood.
Chase came less than two weeks after arrest at petrol station
This pursuit came less than a fortnight after Smith was arrested at a petrol station and charged with another set of motoring offences.
On June 14, a police officer spotted the vehicle Smith was driving travelling in the opposite direction on the A454 at Worfield, near Bridgnorth.
The officer spoke to Smith at the nearby Texaco petrol station and it was discovered that Smith was disqualified from driving.
The police officer also smelled cannabis on Smith, so requested he do a roadside drugs test. Smith refused to comply with that, or to give an evidential sample at the police station.
Smith, of Newport Road, Albrighton, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, two counts each of driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to provide a specimen for analysis, and one of failing to surrender to bail after missing a court hearing.
He has one set of previous convictions for drug driving, failing to stop for police and having no driving licence or insurance.
Nick Wayne, mitigating, said a pre-sentence report showed Smith had “a low level of maturity”, and that he displayed “impulsive behaviour” when committing the offences.
The court was told that Smith had two young children, and Mr Wayne said: “He is determined to remain a good father.”
Judge Deni Mathews told Smith that some of his driving was done in “built-up residential areas” and that people are moving around even at that time in the morning.
He told Smith an immediate custodial sentence would be “awful” for him and his family.
“You could have no complaints if you went to prison,” the judge added.
However, he handed Smith an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Smith was banned from driving for three years and ordered to do 125 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days.
“You must stop this idiocy,” the judge told Smith, who was also ordered to pay a £70 fine and £150 in prosecution costs for missing a court hearing.