Motorist "clearly in drink" drove at 130mph on motorway before death-defying lane change move to avoid police

Police began pursuing the BMW 320 when it drove past them at speed on the M62 near Pontefract on the evening of June 16.

Caught on dashboard cameras, the vehicle drove between 120 and 130mph while overtaking and undertaking traffic.

At one point Ferdinald Dsane almost lost control of the BMW after clipping the central reservation.

Despite the sirens and blue lights flashing, Dsane continued at speed before cutting across traffic at the last moment to enter the slip road for the A1, thus losing the pursuing police cars, prosecutor Tayo Dasaolu told Leeds Crown Court.

But another police car then caught up with the BMW on the A1, before it stopped in the outside lane.

Officers used a baton to gain entry to the vehicle before Dsane opened the door.

The officers said his eyes were bloodshot and he smelt strongly of alcohol.

Miss Dasaolu said: “He was asked to provide a sample of breath by the roadside. He was given clear instructions but he repeatedly failed to follow those instructions. He did not blow long enough into the equipment.”

She said he then became argumentative at the police station and refused to give a breath sample again, telling officers: “Let’s meet in court.”

The 32-year-old, of Stanhope Road, Wheatley in Doncaster, later admitted a charge of dangerous driving and failing to provide a breath test.

A probation report suggested Dsane was not aware of the police, and had only drunk “half a beaker of red wine” before getting behind the wheel.

Both suggestions were rejected by Judge Simon Batiste.

Mitigating for Dsane, Ian Cook said that his client has no previous convictions or driving endorsements.

He also admitted he knew the police were behind him.

He said: “In reality he had been drinking that night – alcohol impaired his usual good judgement.

"He told me he became aware of the police behind him and panicked. He struggles to offer any real explanation for his actions."

He said that Dsane was born in Ghana and but had Irish citizenship.

He is a married father-of-two who works as a customer service advisor for furniture company, DFS.

Judge Batiste told him: “It was a truly shocking piece of driving.

"You were clearly in drink. I do not accept that you drunk a tiny amount of wine otherwise you would not have behaved in the way you did.

"You decided, presumably to shake off the police, at the very last minute to cut across from the outside lane just as the junction was disappearing, onto the slip road to take you onto the A1.

"You were clearly considerably in drink and that makes it even more dangerous at the speeds you were driving.

"It was a miracle that you or other people were not seriously injured or killed.”

He jailed him for eight months and banned from driving for four years and four months.