A man who risked the lives of numerous members of the public through a dangerous pursuit through Swindon has been jailed for 20 months.
On 12 June this year, at around 1.20pm, officers sighted a vehicle on County Road, which flagged as untaxed, had dark window tints and a parking ticket on the windscreen.
The vehicle, a black Volkswagen Tiguan being driven by Tyler O’Keeffe, 20, of Azalea Drive, Burbage, Leicestershire, was requested to stop.
He initially pulled over on Drove Road, but then accelerated away, performing a U-turn and requiring officers to take evasive action.
He then led officers on an incredibly dangerous pursuit through the busy town centre at speed despite the wet weather. Watch the chase on Facebook >
He drove the wrong way along Drakes Way, a dual carriageway, in an effort to lose pursuing officers, before taking a roundabout anti-clockwise at Greenbridge, onto Dorcan Way.
His driving continued in the same manner onto Covingham Drive, then Merlin Way, and then onto the A419 after travelling the wrong way down the exit slip road. He then turned left at the top of the slip road to drive with the flow of traffic.
The pursuit came to an end when O’Keeffe collided with another vehicle and was subsequently boxed in. He was arrested and subsequently charged with dangerous driving.
O’Keeffe pleaded guilty and at a hearing at Swindon Crown Court on Friday (03/10) he was jailed for 12 months, plus a further eight months due to an activated suspended sentence.
He was also disqualified from driving for 27 months and will have to complete an extended retest.
Roads Policing officer PC Tom Richardson said: “O’Keeffe’s driving was some of the worst driving I have seen.
“He took massive risks going the wrong way down dual carriageways and the wrong way on to the A419.
“He only thought about his own need to escape and not the danger he posed to the general public.
“He put numerous lives in danger, including his own, those of his passengers and the officers in pursuit of him.
“There can be no place for this kind of driving in Wiltshire.”
