Dangerous driver tasered after high speed chase

A dangerous driver was forced off the road and then tasered following a high speed chase through the streets of Telford.

William Davies was spotted by a marked police car driving erratically, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

Police decided to pursue Davies, who was driving a black MG car as he drove along Red Hill Way and Telford Way.

He sharply turned off onto Holyhead Road, a 30mph road, where he travelled at twice the legal limit.

The chase went onto Main Road and then Shrubbery Road, which is a dead end.

But Davies, 21, ignored the concrete bollards at the end and weaved through them, driving along a pedestrian path and footbridge with police still in pursuit.

He found a route onto Shepherds Lane, took a sharp bend at high speed and them turned back onto Holyhead Road.

Police could see that Davies was heading in his MG to the Overdale estate, where he lives and where children were playing on the street.

Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said the car was forced off the road by a patrol car before he was arrested following a struggle .

He said: "He refused to get out of the vehicle and struggled with officers who used their batons and tasered him before he was eventually handcuffed and arrested."

Mr Edwards added the drama, on the evening of March 9, only lasted two minutes.

In police interview Davies admitted driving the way he did but said he panicked when he saw the police because he had not long brought the car and did not have insurance and believed the car to have poor brakes..

Rupert Jones, defending, said: "There is no excuse for the driving and he bitterly regrets driving the way he did.

"He knows that someone could have been seriously hurt or killed."

Judge Peter Barrie, said: "The extremely dangerous manner in which you drove this car means it is only by good fortune that no one was seriously hurt or killed. It was unbelievably stupid. It was 8pm and people would have been about."

The court also heard that Davies has problems with drink and drugs at the weekends.

Davies had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance. He was handed a four month prison sentence suspended for two years. He must also be at his home from 9pm at night to 6am in the morning for the next eight weeks. He was banned from driving for 12 months and must resit an extended driving test after this time. Davies will also pay £600 costs.