'Absolute menace' driver jailed after two police chases in 3 weeks

A driver who was an "absolute menace on the roads of Leicester" has been jailed for a string of offences. Dempsey Lunn sped away from police when they tried to stop him from speeding and drove dangerously along Penman Way in Grove Park and other roads in Enderby, forcing oncoming cars to take evasive action, jumping red lights and driving onto the pavement.

And he did the same thing three weeks later, reaching speeds of up to 70mph in a residential area of Leicester where the limit is 30mph. On that occasion he narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian as he tried to evade Leicestershire Police.

At Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday he was jailed for 23 months for the two dangerous driving convictions and some other crimes as well.

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Judge Keith Raynor told Lunn, 31, of Herle Avenue, Braunstone, Leicester, told Lunn: "You were an absolute menace on the roads of Leicester. You drove in a way that caused real and serious risk.

"In one incident you were clipping a car on the opposite lane and in another were driving very quickly in a pedestrian area and at one point narrowly missed a pedestrian. Your driving creates a real risk to both drivers and pedestrians."

The first dangerous driving offence was on Friday, October 27 last year, when the police tried to stop him in the city and he sped off, weaving in and out of traffic on a wet road, driving onto the pavement at one point to avoid traffic stopped at a red light. The judge said: "Oncoming traffic had to change court to avoid a collision."

Lunn, who had no licence or insurance, was stopped, arrested and released on bail. But on Wednesday, November 15, he was back behind the wheel of a different car when he sped off when police tried to pull him over in Enderby, driving straight over give-way junctions.

The judge said: "You were doing 70mph in a 30mph area. 70mph is the speed limit on a motorway and you were doing at that speed in a pedestrian area."

He said the aggravating factors included the "highly dangerous manoeuvres", the fact the chase was prolonged and the fact he was fleeing from the police. The court heard that Lunn also had previous convictions for driving offences, including driving while disqualified.

Judge Raynor added: "You present a clear and persistent danger to members of the public by your driving. People who drive like this need to have deterrent sentences to mark the seriousness of dangerous driving on public streets."

Other offences Lunn admitted included burgling a student block in Milstone Lane, Leicester city centre in September last year to steal workmen's tools worth about £1,200, and smashing the window of a house in Loughborough in June last year.

Priya Bakshi, representing Lunn, told the court her client was not interested in driving again. She said: "He has no interest in doing things the wrong way, as he previously has. In his own words, he's getting too old for this."

She said Lunn's mother was ill with cancer and he would go to live with her and care for her after his release from prison. She said: "He needs to step up and be there for his mother now."

She said that since Lunn had been remanded in custody in December last year he had taken various courses and taken on several jobs in prison. She said: "This is someone who can stay out of trouble - and for good this time."

As well as being jailed for 23 months, Lunn was banned from driving for five years after the date of his release and will have to take an extended re-test before he can drive again.