BMW driver hit speeds of up to 140mph with six passengers in the car

Agricultural contractor Charles James Evans, 22, turned into a farmyard, abandoned his BMW 320 coupe and ran off in panic, Mold Crown Court heard yesterday.

Evans, of Prospect View, Llanyblodwel, near Oswestry, admitted dangerous driving and received a six month prison sentence, suspended for a year.

He was ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work and banned from driving for a year – and must take an extended driving test before he drives again.

Judge Niclas Parry also ordered him to pay £250 costs.

He said that the aggravating features of the case were as numerous as they were obvious.

The defendant was carrying six passengers in a car made for four – and three of them did not have the protection of safety belts.

He said that the disproportionate weight would have made the car difficult to control when he became involved in a five mile high speed police chase.

Judge Parry said that he reached "alarmingly high speeds" estimated at between 120 mph and 140 mph on standard county roads.

He had driven on the wrong side of the road, he drove across a junction totally ignoring the possibility of on-coming traffic and put the lives of seven people, including himself, at great risk.

The defendant would receive the maximum credit for pleading guilty, he was only 23, he had no criminal convictions and had driven regularly for six years without any penalty points on his licence, the judge said.

He was undoubtedly a hard working and well regarded young man with a social conscience.

"It is quite clear that you acted out of character," he said.

It was an immature reaction to being seen by the police when he was carrying an excessive number of passengers.

Probation officer Leah Ashbrook told the court that the defendant had been to a party, a taxi had not turned up and on the spur of the moment he offered friends a lift home.

That was how he ended up with six passengers in the vehicle.

He was full of remorse but did not accept the very high speeds attributed to him.

Prosecutor David Mainstone said that it was 11.45pm on June 11 that a police officer saw a BMW Coupe drive at excessive speed towards the roundabout of the A483 near Welshpool cattle market and decided to follow it.

The officer reached speeds of 140 mph but did not gain any ground on the defendant's vehicle.

It was estimated that he left Welshpool at 100 mph. The officer reached 140 mph again and believed the defendant to be doing 120 mph at that stage.

The officer put on his blue lights but the defendant did not stop. He drove through one give way junction without stopping and drove along an unclassified road and then up a driveway to a farmyard.

Evans ran off and it was then realised that he had a further six passengers on board, three of whom had no access to a safety belt. Interviewed, he admitted driving in excess of 100 mph.

Simon Medland QC, defending, said that his client was a hard working and highly thought of agricultural contractor whose loss of driving licence would affect him greatly in his work and in his personal life because of the rural location in which he lived.