South Shields driver 'could have killed' in 'Fast and Furious' city chase
A judge told a court how a South Shields driver could have killed someone in a Sunderland city chase that resembled a scene from film Fast and Furious.
A tailgating South Tyneside motorist caused a car crash and could have killed while driving as if in a scene from the movie The Fast and the Furious, a court heard.
Harry Smith, 24, undercut in his Audi A5 when the car in front refused to budge on the A690 Chester Road at Sunderland on around 8.30pm on Friday, August 8.
But Smith, of Steward Crescent, near the Nook, South Shields, clipped the back of the other vehicle as he tried to pass, sending both careering out of control.
He smashed into a barrier and came to a stop – and then ran from the scene before he could be breath tested, prosecutor Rehana Haque said.
His victim’s car hit the central reservation and ended up on its side, the result of an act of bad driving District Judge Zoe Passfield said could have left someone dead.
Self-employed Smith was also driving without insurance, the second time he had committed that crime in eight months.
He pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident, careless driving and driving without insurance.
Judge Passfield said she would have had no issues if he had been charged with more serious offences.
Banning him from driving for a year and sentencing him to a 12-month community order, she told him: “This was absolutely atrocious driving.
“It’s absolutely clear to me that you were in the outside lane and took the view that the car in front wasn’t going fast enough for your liking, so you tailgated that car and drove in a way that was deliberately intimidating.
“When the car still failed to make way, you pulled into the inside lane to undertake them.
“Because of this action, there was a collision where, quite frankly, I can’t believe that nobody was killed or injured.
“You then ran from the scene and were driving for the second time without insurance in eight months.
“When you get your driving licence back, please remember that you are not the only person who uses the roads.
“Spare a thought for other people who are driving sensibly.”
Outlining the case, Mrs Haque said: “It’s like someone out of the Fast and the Furious. It’s all captured on CCTV.
“It appears that he tried to undertake, and a significant accident occurs. The defendant walked away from the accident.
“It’s fortunate that nobody was injured or killed. I assume it’s going through insurance.”
Geoffrey Forrester, defending, said: “There’s significant mitigation. He rarely uses the car, so when he does use it, he would get temporary insurance.
“He got caught on this occasion because he got himself mixed up. Quite clearly, in the pre-sentence report, there is remorse.
“He is in well-paid employment, The picture the report presents is of a decent young man.
“Most important of all, he has shown that the penny has dropped. There’s genuine remorse.
“I invite you to give maximum credit for the fact he entered immediate guilty pleas.
“There is an indication that he would have been breathalysed. He had been at work and instructs me that he hadn’t been drinking.”
Smith’s community order comes with 150 hours of unpaid work, and he must pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.