Police spotted a red car and a blue car racing each other through Luton in the early hours of a morning.
The blue car disappeared, but the officers chased the red Rover along the A505 onto Castle Street at one thirty in the morning on Thursday, May 7, 2020 last year.
Prosecutor Gerard Renouf told Luton Crown Court on Friday, January 15, 2021, that the driver, 19-year-old Adam Hunt, was speeding at 60mph in a 30mph zone.
He went through a set of red lights without braking and through another set of lights on St Mary’s Road, before reaching 67mph in a 30mph zone.
After almost causing a head-on collision he stopped and tried to run off, but was grabbed by one of the officers, put in handcuffs and was arrested.
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He told the police he was sorry and said he held only a provisional licence.
Hunt, of Morcom Road, Dunstable, appeared for sentence having pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, having no licence and no insurance. He had been banned for 12 months in March 2019 for dangerous driving.
Defending, Michael Shilliday said Hunt’s mother had told him there had been a marked improvement in his demeanour since he had come to live with her. He said Hunt’s girlfriend had also had a “grounding influence” on him.
Mr Shilliday said Hunt was “remorseful.” He said he was not working, but wanted to go to college in September.
Recorder Tim Clark QC warned him: “You are in real peril of going to prison if you drive like this again or drive when you are not allowed to.”
He sentenced him to six months’ jail suspended for two years with a three month curfew between 8pm and 6am.
Hunt must attend 19 days of a Thinking Skills Programme and 10 days’ rehabilitation. The judge also banned him from driving for two and a half years with a condition that he takes an extended test before he obtains a licence.