'Panicking' Leeds driver reached 90mph during police pursuit on streets where children played

Police had been tipped off that Daniel Stevens had been in the pub drinking before getting behind the wheel of his Volvo C60 shortly before 8pm on July 15, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Officers caught sight of the vehicle of Aberford Road and illuminated their lights to pull him over, but the car took off at speed, undertaking other road users and heading into oncoming traffic.

He reached 90mph in 40mph on Middleton Lane and when he reached temporary traffic lights ignored the red light and went through at speed, prosecutor Gabrielle Wilks said.

The chase went on for six miles before he lost the police. However, the 34-year-old, of Bodmin Crescent, Middleton, handed himself into police days later, but then refused to answer questions during his interview.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. He has 27 previous convictions for 65 offences, including multiple driving offences such as driving without a licence, without insurance, and drink driving. He was also on a community order at the time of his latest offence.

Mitigating, Sam Roxborough said Stevens had been in the pub that evening, but had not drunk much before getting into an argument and leaving.

He said: “When he saw the police, he did not stop. He said he let himself down. He panicked and made a mistake, he knows he should have just pulled over.”

He said that Stevens, who suffers from borderline personality disorder, had “hit rock bottom” after losing his job, his partner and his home and his grandmother had passed way, so he began drinking to excess.

The father-of-one is expecting his second child, and Mr Roxborough said there was a job available to him at an asbestos removal firm.

Judge Clark told him: “At times you were travelling at twice the speed limit in built-up areas. You were driving dangerously through residential streets where children were playing.”

He handed him a 10-month jail sentence and also gave him a two-years-and-nine-months driving ban.