Dash cam shows 130mph driver wreck a police car by repeatedly ramming it during a police chase
By: A DRIVER who wrecked a police car by repeatedly ramming it with his own vehicle has been jailed for 17 months.
Mikey Lee Neasham, 27, used his Astra to smash his way out of a cul-de-sac in north York and raced off leaving a police officer in an unroadworthy vehicle with £10,000 damage, said Emma Handley, prosecuting. Then he hurtled through Skelton north of York at 120 mph and sped through two more villages at 130 mph before losing control of his car, swerving into a field and running off.
He had been driving on the wrong side of the road at blind bends, as well as going the wrong side of keep left bollards.
Police revealed after the hearing that Neasham did a handbrake turn in Shipton-on-Beningbrough, sped along Corban Lane at 110mph before taking a right turn back towards Skelton. The crash happened just outside Skelton.
Neasham, of Wenham Road, Foxwood, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and criminal damage to the police car.
“You are before the court for a horrendous piece of driving,” the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Neasham. “You drove at ludicrous speeds. Thank your lucky stars you didn’t kill anyone.
“When a defendant puts a police car out of action, it has enormous consequences, financial for the police service and also for the safety of the public because that car is not there for the assistance of those who need it.”
Neasham was jailed for 17 months at York Crown Court, banned from driving for two years and eight months and ordered to take an extended driving test before driving alone again.
Ms Handley said when a police car came up behind Neasham as he headed towards York city centre from the Rawcliffe Bar roundabout at 11pm on January 30, the 27-year-old started driving strangely, so the officer ordered him to pull over.
Neasham made off into a residential area at 60mph. When he turned into a cul-de-sack, the officer blocked its entrance with his car, but Neasham “rammed the police car numerous times”, said the barrister.
As well as making the police car unroadworthy, Neasham’s Astra suffered a badly damaged front end, but he drove off.
The police officer sent out a general alert for Neasham and a second police officer spotted him on the A1237 York Outer Ring Road and tried to stop him. Neasham hurtled up the A19 through Skelton at 110 mph before accelerating to 120 mph and 130 mph as he drove through two more villages, said the barrister.
He lost control when he tried to take a tight bend at 80 mph, swerved to the near side and into a field, where he abandoned the car and made off. Police searched the area with a helicopter and dogs. He was arrested later.
Oliver Norman, for Neasham, said the bad driving was entirely out of character. He was trying to improve himself with the probation service on a community order for non-driving offences imposed after the bad driving.
He lives on benefits and has health issues.