Pontypool: Dangerous driver sped at 90mph in 20mph zone

Jack Saunders, 21, was disqualified from the roads after being locked up in a young offender institution for 10 months in 2021 for the same offence.

He had still not passed an extended retest when he was spotted at the wheel of a BMW 3 Series car on the A4042 in Pontypool.

Saunders accelerated away from an officer in a marked police car and drove at 90mph in a 20mph zone on The Highway.

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He started overtaking other vehicles by mounting a grass verge on Jerusalem Lane and a police helicopter was deployed to help stop him.

Dashcam footage from a chasing car showed Saunders continually breaking and speeding off before he crashed into the two officers.

Prosecutor Amelia Pike told Cardiff Crown Court: “These offences are aggravated by the defendant’s previous offending and by the fact that there were passengers in the vehicle.”

Glosters Parade, New Inn, Pontypool pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving with no insurance.

The offence was committed at around 12.20am on Saturday, October 7 last year.

His lawyer Huw Bowden said: “These offences occurred eight months ago and the defendant has not committed any other offences since.”

Saunders has found work as a plasterer since and can earn £100 a day.

“He has shown he has the capacity to be rehabilitated,” Mr Bowden added. “There is genuine remorse.”

The judge, Recorder Simon Hughes, told Saunders: “This was some of the worst dangerous driving I’ve seen.

“It was a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road.

“There’s not a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

“I feel you continue to present a danger to the public.

“This was terrible driving and extremely dangerous.”

The defendant was jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for three years and six months.

He will have to pay a victim surcharge and pass an extended retest if he wants to regain his driving licence.