Driver led police on dangerous chase through Brighouse

At Bradford Crown Court Jordan Millican, prosecuting, said Adam Kay was found driving a “cloned” Toyota Yaris when he “took off” on Wakefield Road in Brighouse on the afternoon of June 19 last year.

The resulting pursuit, which was captured on video, saw him driving at “excessive” speed, aggressively tailgating other vehicles, losing control around bends in the road, skidding, and driving through a restricted pedestrian road well in excess of the speed limit.

He drove through no-entry signs and went the wrong way through the busy town centre, which was full of pedestrians. In attempting to force his way through a gap in the traffic he collided with another car travelling in the opposite direction.

The pursuit continued with Kay on the wrong side of the road. He was caught when he fled the vehicle and tried to run off but tripped and fell over. When he was arrested at the scene officers discovered the car was bearing false registration plates and had been “cloned”.

Another dangerous driving incident 

Three months earlier on March 10, Kay, now 23, of Crozier House, The Boulevard, Leeds, had been stopped on Mountleigh Close in Bradford by police who saw he was driving a Ford Fiesta without lights. The car’s exhaust was also making a noise.

Kay initially pulled over but then accelerated away at speed on the wrong side of the road and gave officers the slip.

He was traced via a check on the car, which was insured to Kay but with a phony birthdate of 1968, meaning his insurance was void, to an address in Headingley, Leeds, and arrested there.

He was later disqualified from driving and was still under that ban when the second offence occurred.

During an interview with police for the March offence Kay gave “no comment” answers but for the second offence he admitted not stopping as he was disqualified.

He accepted his driving was dangerous and that his behaviour was “just stupid”.

On both occasions, Kay was accompanied by a passenger.

Kay urged the court to give him a second chance 

Mitigating, Shahid Rashid said Kay was only 21 at the time of the offending and “very immature”.

He said he had since reformed himself, was determined not to go near a car again and was using a bicycle for his travel. He urged the court to give him a second chance.

'Only an immediate custodial sentence can possibly be justified'

Sentencing Kay Mr Recorder Paul Reid said he had behaved in “a completely irresponsible fashion”.

Referring to the incident in March he said: “This was a most unpleasant piece of driving. Even at that time of night [nearly midnight] it threatened the safety of those who may be in the path of your car being driven at great speed.

“On June 19 the same thing happened to a greater extent and in far worse circumstances.

“You took off from the police … driving the whole time in excess of the speed limit with officers behind you with their sirens and blue lights sounding and illuminated.

“You were arrested not without some struggle.

“Your reaction to the questioning by [the Probation Service] is somewhat bizarre in my view because you made light of this.

“The second incident is by far the more egregious because it was during the daytime through a town centre with other traffic and pedestrians. It’s only by extreme good fortune that somebody was not injured or worse.

“These offences are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can possibly be justified.”

Kay was disqualified from driving for two years and seven months and ordered to pass an extended re-test before getting behind the wheel again.