Cheltenham man leads police on 141 mile car chase across England

A man who told police his driving had been "brilliant" after leading them on a dangerous 141 mile (226km) car chase across England has been jailed.

Lauchlan Pritchard, 25, ignored police from Gloucestershire to Kent last year, because his partner was in labour and he wanted to get there in time.

Refusing to stop for officers, he also tried to ram a police car and drove the wrong way on a dual carriageway.

Pritchard, of Pennine Road in Cheltenham, was jailed for 12 months.

Sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court, Pritchard, who admitted dangerous driving and not having insurance or a valid licence, was also banned from driving for three years.

The chase happened on 20 November at about 21:00 GMT when Gloucestershire Constabulary were alerted to a Suzuki Vitara being around Cirencester with cloned number plates, the court was told.

The chase ended in Mereworth, Kent, when Kent Police deployed a stinger, deflating the Suzuki's tyres.

Pritchard then told officers who arrested him that he thought his driving had been "brilliant".

During the pursuit Pritchard drove through numerous red lights and ignored officers' blue lights requests.

The court heard that at one point he accelerated to 90mph on the M4 and swerved across all three lanes of the motorway trying to evade the police.

Steven Young, defending, said: "None of the facts are in dispute. However, while it was a long pursuit there were large parts of the journey where he wasn't driving dangerously.

"For long periods there was no danger to other road users. He wasn't being blue-lighted for the whole distance.

"The reason he was driving to Kent was that his partner had gone into labour and that was where he was heading.

"Luckily for all concerned there was no collision, but admittedly there were numerous examples of dangerous driving during the long pursuit."

Judge Rupert Lowe told Pritchard: "Police first spotted you driving a vehicle with cloned number plates. But it seems throughout this period you don't care what the law says. You seemed to enjoy the police chase. You even claimed your driving was brilliant.

"You travelled at 90mph for long periods of time, during which you swerved across all three lanes of the M4. You tried to stop the police car overtaking you by swerving into it at high speed.

"You also tried to ram the police vehicle at West Malling before heading off on the Seven Mile Lane where Kent Police deployed a stinger and brought the pursuit to an end."

Judge Lowe ordered that Pritchard take an extended test before obtaining his driving licence.

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