Suspected drug-dealing VW Golf driver in 110mph police-car smash on M62 at Wakefield

Then judge at Leeds Crown Court said Kyle Parish’s death-defying moves “could have been quite catastrophic” at such eye-watering speeds.

Parish admitted a charge of dangerous driving during a sentencing hearing this week.

Patrolling officers had been on duty in the Wakefield area on August 19 last year when they spotted the VW Golf on Aberford Road, shortly after 1am.

Prosecutor Lea Levine said the car had been flagged up as being suspected of being involved in drug dealing.

They tried to stop the vehicle but Parish put his foot down and took off heading towards the M62, travelling on the wrong side of the road at times, overtaking cars and reaching 70mph on the 30mph stretch of road.

He then took the third exit on the roundabout near Stanley onto the eastbound carriageway of the M62.

Swerving between vehicles, he reached 110mph. The pursuing police eventually managed to get alongside him to prevent him from leaving the motorway at the next exit.

The Golf then collided with the side of the police car and lost control, smashing into the barrier and spinning before coming to a stop.

Parish got out and ran over an embankment while his passenger was quickly arrested.

Parish, of Highcliff Gardens, Scunthorpe, was able to get away but handed himself into the police the next day where he gave a no-comment interview.

He has two previous convictions, and was jailed for 42 months in 2017, although no further details were disclosed to the court.

Mitigating for his latest offence, Zarreen Alam-Cheetham said he was remorseful and “deeply regretful”.

She said he was previously addicted to drugs and alcohol, and had “got in with the wrong crowd”. She said for that reason, he moved to Lincolnshire and was now living a clean life, working as a mechanic.

She said: “He realises this is not the life he wants to lead.”

But Judge Ray Singh was skeptical about his decision to hand himself in to the police a day after the chase, suspecting he was getting rid of evidence.

Ms Alam-Cheetham conceded there was “clearly a motive” to drive off, but said he had not been charged with any other offence.

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Judge Singh told Parish: “Officers were struggling to keep up with you. You crashed directly into them. It could have been quite catastrophic.

“You did not care one jot, you were simply worried about your own neck.

“You decamped and ran away.”

Judge Singh said he was “no doubt getting rid of incriminating evidence” but conceded he was “merely speculating and guessing”.

He gave him a 14-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with 25 rehabilitation days and a three-month GPS-tag curfew.

He was given an 18-month driving ban and ordered to take an extended driving test.