Yahoo News Dangerous driver clocked driving Toyota Aygo at 80mph in busy streets - narrowly missing pedestrian
A dangerous driver was clocked at speeds of up to 80mph in busy streets in a high speed police pursuit, a court heard.
Elias Gabbitas, 25, of Haven Gardens, Grimsby narrowly missed a pedestrian walking on a zebra crossing, Grimsby Crown Court was told. The driver denied the offence of dangerous driving through Hull city centre but was found guilty after a two-day trial.
Prosecuting, Oliver Shipley said the dangerous driving was prolonged and persistent on February 24, last year. The court heard police had received a report of a man driving under the influence of alcohol.
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Once the vehicle was detected by police and followed, the Toyota Aygo made a number of turns on to other streets at a slow speed before coming to a stop and then "strangely" reversing into a space on Hardy Street. A police officer approached the driver – Gabbitas – and asked him to get out of the car.
Gabbitas refused and he would not get out of the car, claiming that the officer had no legal power to pull him over. The court heard the officer was suspicious of the smell of alcohol and the glazed look in the driver's eyes.
The defendant continued to argue with the officers for several minutes before accelerating forward and driving away towards Cottingham Road.
He first drove down Beverley Road at speed towards Hull city centre, crossing on to the wrong side of the road and narrowly missing a pedestrian crossing the road. He then continued at speed on to Freetown Way and travelled down Holderness Road.
He turned left on to New Cleveland Street towards the Mount Pleasant roundabout. Police recorded the Toyota driver's speed at between 70 and 80 mph.
He lost control and drove over the central reservation and around the roundabout in the wrong direction. The vehicle eventually came to a stop.
The incident was captured from start to finish on the officer's body-worn video camera and also the CCTV cameras that are installed at various points around the city.
During police interview, Gabbitas denied that he was argumentative or that he refused to get out of the car. He claimed that there was no reason for him to get out of the car and that the suspicion of alcohol was not a reason.
He told police he thought the pedestrian on the crossing was "playing chicken" and drove around them. For Gabbitas, Stephen Robinson said his client had complex, neuro-diverse issues and had kept out of trouble since the offence.
He added he was performing voluntary work mending and refurbishing bicycles and aimed to get a qualification in the trade. He said his client had already served the equivalent of 122 days having been on an electronically-tagged curfew.
Sentencing Gabbitas, Recorder Dapinder Singh KC said: "Your driving was totally callous, ignoring other road users and pedestrians. The speed was significantly above the speed limit."
He said the driving had "extreme risk of harm to pedestrians" and showed disregard for the safety of other road users. He jailed him for 13 months and banned him from driving for 10 years and six months.
