Man jailed for high-speed chase with baby (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Man jailed for high-speed chase with baby

8:25am Wednesday 14th March 2007 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

A man who led police on an 80-mile high-speed chase with a baby in his car has been jailed for 18 months.

Leonard Douglas, 26, drove from Tesco in Ocotal Way, Swindon, up the A419 dual carriageway to the M5 in Gloucestershire, and then turned round and came back to Swindon.

On the way he:

• Went the wrong way round roundabouts
• Drove the wrong way up the Cricklade Road dual carriageway
• Caused three collisions
• Undertook drivers at high speed
  
  Jailing Douglas, a judge at Swindon Crown Court described the case as "one of the worst examples of dangerous driving you could come across" and that the baby was put at "extreme risk".

Judge Douglas Field said: "Endangering this baby is one of the serious aggravating features of this case."

The court had heard how, upon returning to swindon after the chase, Douglas declared to armed police officers: "How was that for a chase?"

However the 26-year-old will be out of custody in less than two months after already spending seven months behind bars.

“High speeds, undertaking on the hard shoulder, round the roundabout the wrong way, on a dual carriageway the wrong way – all of this going on with a baby in the back being put at extreme risk.”

Judge Douglas Field

Onlookers at Swindon Crown Court watched in horror as a video from a Gloucestershire police helicopter showed Douglas weaving in and out of lanes as he made his way from the M5 back to Swindon on August 15.

It showed him driving on the wrong side of the Cricklade Road dual carriageway and almost causing pile-ups at the Turnpike and Cirencester Way roundabouts.

The court heard that Douglas, who had breached his bail of living in Milton Keynes, took the baby from its mother in the car park of Tesco in Ocotal Way.

He assaulted the woman and drove off in her white Vauxhall Corsa. He was chased by police after filling the car with petrol at the Turnpike BP garage and driving off without paying.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told the court that Douglas' driving had been so erratic he had caused three separate collisions.

She said he had appeared in the woman's car at Tesco after hiding in the boot.

"He leaned forward and locked her door. He said you are not getting out, calm down, I have a knife,'" said Miss Marlow.

"She said she could feel something sharp on her left side, although no knife was ever found. She felt his arms around her throat, she was shouting and trying to get him off. She felt him bite her left cheek, he also had his hands round her throat."

A Tesco security guard intervened when the woman screamed "He's got my baby", and Douglas drove off.

After driving to the M5 Douglas was chased by Gloucestershire Police cars and a helicopter before leaving the motorway and speeding to the A417 and A419 where a Wiltshire police helicopter joined the chase.

He eventually stopped at the New College housing estate where he was arrested by armed officers.

Defending, Jon Harrison said: "It was not his intention to drive the Vauxhall Corsa away from Tesco until the last moment.

"He denies he was hiding in the back of the car. He did not wish to harm the child. When he realised he was being pursued by police he panicked."

Yesterday Douglas admitted common assault and endangering a child under two years old.

He had already admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and making off without payment for petrol worth £30.30.

He denied charges of kidnap and false imprisonment.

Judge Douglas Field said: "High speeds, undertaking on the hard shoulder, round the roundabout the wrong way, on a dual carriageway the wrong way - all of this going on with a baby in the back being put at extreme risk."

As well as an 18-month prison sentence, Douglas was disqualified from driving for five years.

He was also sentenced to six months in prison for the common assault, three months for the theft of fuel and four months for driving while disqualified.

All sentences are to run concurrently.