Drunk driver jailed after 100mph chase; JAILED AFTER HIGH-SPEED MADNESS

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), June 18, 2009

Byline: ROB KENNEDY

A DANGEROUS drink-driver has been jailed after leading police on an 100mph chase.

Gary Forester was racing home to be with his pregnant partner when he was clocked breaking the speed limit by a police patrol car.

But when it signalled for him to pull over, he panicked because he knew he was over the drink-drive limit.

He accelerated up to 100mph in a 60mph zone, pretended to pull over before he fled, trying to make a run for it on foot.

The 25-year-old airport worker, who has no previous convictions, was led away to custody in tears after he admitted dangerous driving.

Jailing Forester, Recorder William Lowe said: "This was a bad case of dangerous driving.

"You are lucky you didn't kill someone the way you drove that night - under the influence of alcohol at manifestly-excessive dangerous speeds.

"I have to consider not just you but the general public and how best they are protected." Forester of Claremont Terrace, Blyth, had been out on the evening of March 19 this year.

The court heard he had not intended driving home, but he got a call from his partner asking him to come home because she was having problems with her pregnancy.

He was initially spotted on The Links, in Whitley Bay, and was seen to overtake a car.

A marked police car travelling in the opposite direction turned round to follow him but Forester accelerated up to 63mph in a 40mph zone and ignored police attempts to pull him over.

When he got near Whitley Bay Caravan Park he came to a halt, but when police pulled up behind him he accelerated away.

He overtook another car, reaching speeds of up to 100mph on the 60mph road.

On reaching the junction of Hartley Lane and Simonside, near Seaton Sluice, he stopped and tried to make a run for it on foot, but was chased and apprehended by police. Forester was breathalysed and found to be more than two times the legal limit.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol and was jailed for four months and banned from driving for three years.

Christopher Mitford defending, said: "He did not intend to drive, the explanation was he had received a call from his partner, who was having real difficulties with her pregnancy.

"She requested him to come back and he made a foolish decision, and when he saw the police car he panicked..

"It was a one-off aberration and he now has a nineday-old baby." Chief Inspector Kevin Wellden, North Tyneside Area Command said: "This man drove dangerously and is clearly a menace on our roads. Even a small amount of alcohol can have a serious effect on your driving ability and this man had drunk to excess.

I hope the sentence handed down will give him time to reflect on his behaviour.

"Northumbria Police takes drink-driving very seriously and, as such, we are backing this summer's national drink-driving campaign."