Banned driver jailed after nearing 150mph during 80-mile police chase

Watch: Driver hits 150mph during 80-mile police pursuit

This is the shocking moment a banned driver hit speeds of up to 150mph while attempting to evade police during a pursuit that covered more than 80 miles.

Syed Reza, of Sundon Park Road, Luton, refused to stop and “engaged police in a pursuit all the way from Luton to Birmingham” on 18 September 2020, Bedfordshire Police said.

Stretching across seven police force areas, the high-speed pursuit involved officers from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Joint Protective Services, working alongside colleagues from Northamptonshire Police and West Midlands Police.

Having finally been caught, Reza was arrested but fled the country after he was released under investigation.

But having being picked up upon his return to the country, Reza, 25, has now been jailed for four years and two months at Warwick Crown Court after admitting four counts of dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified.

In a statement confirming details of the offending, Bedfordshire Police said: “After over 80 miles of dangerous driving, and two police cars rammed, Reza was brought to a stop and arrested in Birmingham.

“He was later released under investigation where he then fled the country. A year later he returned and was picked up by officers at Heathrow Airport.”

Sergeant Ian Leeson, from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit, added: “This was the most dangerous and protracted pursuit I have ever led in my career as a road policing officer.

“The pursuit travelled through rural and urban areas and it is to my amazement that nobody was injured as a result of the speeds and manner in which Reza was driving.

“The outcome could have been very different.”

Reza was also sentenced for three other pursuits, two from Luton in April 2020 and July 2020 and another in Warwickshire in January 2020.

He will be disqualified from driving for four years after his release.