Jail for driver who fled police in Wednesfield

Nathaniel Parrish was at the wheel of the same vehicle involved in the earlier chase when it smashed into a Ford Focus carrying a mother and her three-year-old daughter, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told

The 25-year-old ignored a request to stop from an unmarked police car and accelerated away at 'excessive speed,' said Mr Ben Gow, prosecuting.

The Renault Megan cut across mini traffic islands and roared down the wrong side of the road forcing other motorists to take evasive action at 3pm on May 1 last year, the court heard.

"It then collided with another vehicle causing considerable damage before running from the scene," continued Mr Gow. Eyewitnesses were appalled at the speed of the Megan.

Focus driver Mrs Wendy Statham was so shaken by the impact she missed months of work and needed two-and-half-months to build up sufficient confidence to return to the roads, it was said. Her daughter escaped uninjured while her eight year old car was written off.

Parrish fled on foot from the crash at the junction of Cannock and Woden Roads in Wednesfield and was not traced for three months, revealed Mr Gow.

The defendant had led police on another chase when they tried to stop him on February 13. On this occasion he also abandoned the car and ran away after damaging a wheel careering into the kerb at the junction of Redcott Close and Primrose Lane in Fallings Park but was soon found hiding in a nearby shed.

Miss Sharonjit Bahia, defending, said: "These offences were committed in panic because he had no driving licence after it was revoked. He had four A levels and was once a Wolverhampton University student but was not bright enough to appreciate the danger he was putting himself and other road users in."

Parrish from Lambert Road, Fallings Park pleaded guilty to two charges of dangerous driving and was jailed for 18 months by Judge Amjad Nawaz who told him: "You were on bail for the first offence when you made another concerted effort to get away from the police in the same car. It is only through good fortune that Mrs Statham and her daughter escaped serious injury after you hit their vehicle head on because you were so consumed in your desire to get away from the police."