Leeds driver high on drugs reached 108mph in police chase on 30mph streets before crashing into taxi in Armley

Marcus Zacardelli was already on a suspended sentence when he tried to outrun police on the evening of May 23 last year.

Officers had been alerted to a red Renault Megane when an officer spotted the vehicle being driven by Zacardelli shortly before 9pm on Bradford Road near Birkenshaw.

The officer activated his blue lights but the Megane accelerated away, reaching 60mph on the A650 and overtaking on blind bends.

It then reached 95mph in a 30mph area on the A58 near New Farnley, before Zacardelli put his foot down further and reached 108mph.

He went through a red light before joining the M621 on the wrong side heading head-first into oncoming traffic as the police continued to follow on the correct side towards Leeds city centre.

He then nearly lost control at Copley Hill but was able to continue, until he reached Amberley Road in Armley when he collided with a taxi and spun the Megane backwards. The 20-year-old then got out and ran pursued by officers who eventually caught up with him. He was given a road-side drug swipe test which showed he had been taking cannabis.

Zacardelli, of Gilpin View, Upper Wortley admitted dangerous driving, being over the drug-drive limit and having no licence. Leeds Crown Court heard he had 27 previous offences to his name, including possession of a bladed article for which he received a suspended four-month jail sentence in November 2021.

Mitigating, Ian Howard said that Zacardelli had been living in Leeds after being accused locally of burgling the home of “known criminal” in Bradford. He said he knew he should not have been driving and that he “simply panicked” when the police tried to pull him over. Judge Ray Singh told him: “It was one of the the worst pieces of dangerous driving the courts are likely to see. You have a history of not complying with court orders.”

He jailed him for 18 months and banned him from driving for 45 months.