A mechanic from Oxford has been jailed for 14 months after what Thames Valley Police described as a “display of extremely dangerous driving”.
Jason Dewsbury was driving a Vauxhall Zafira when he narrowly avoided crashing into a funeral cortege led by a horse-drawn carriage, having led police on a chase along the city’s Eastern Bypass.
Oxford Crown Court head that Dewsbury was speeding to diagnose the cause of smoke coming from the Zafira, despite the fact that he was banned from driving and subject to a suspended prison sentence.
Judge Nigel Daly told him: “Can you imagine what could have happened if those horses had got out of control? It would have been utter chaos.”
Lee Jackson of funeral directors’ Jackson & Browning was on the carriage en-route to a funeral when it was passed at around 30mph by Dewsbury’s speeding Vauxhall.
He told the Oxford Mail: “I didn’t know whether to jump off the hearse or not. The horses were fine; they’re trained animals and they’re more worried about a carrier bag than a vehicle.”
Police dash cam footage shared on social media shows the Vauxhall undertaking other cars, running red lights and hitting speeds of 80mph in a 50mph zone.
The judge added: “What is concerning is that you simply don’t seem either to learn from what happens when you commit offences or, alternatively, you just choose to ignore order of the court once you are disqualified from driving.”
Commenting on the smoking Zafira, the judge said: “It could be tracked from space. It was inevitable when you went on the open road you would attract the attention of the police.”
Source: Oxford Mail