AN unqualified driver led police on a high speed chase as he drove the wrong way down a one-way street.
Glen Narkevicius, 31, failed to stop for police when they spotted his red Rover Metro on Horbury Road, Lupset, at around midnight on December 14.
They pursued him when his car pulled out at what they thought was an ‘excessive’ speed, Wakefield Mag
istrates’ Court heard on Monday.
Narkevicius, of Briggs Yard, Ossett, then led them on a chase through the streets of Horbury which took him the wrong way up a one-way street. He reached 50mph in the 20mph zone of Horbury’s High Street.
At an earlier hearing Narkevicius claimed police rammed him twice during the chase and drove into him after he stopped on Dovecote Lane, Horbury.
But the court heard he braked sharply in front of the police car, leaving it no time to avoid hitting him.
He had not passed his driving test and had bought the uninsured car for £200 in Leeds a week earlier using a false name.
When asked by police if he had any insurance when arrested, Narkevicius said: “What, when I’m disqualified?”
He admitted driving while disqualified, failing to stop for police and speeding. He was found guilty of dangerous driving, a charge he denied.
In January, Narkevicius, a part-time disc jockey, broke into a car and stole the stereo.
Prosecutor Richard Canning, prosecuting, said he did it ‘out of spite’ for the female owner, who he knew.
She saw Narkevicius breaking into her yellow Seat from her bedroom window at around 5.20am and called the police.
When he was later arrested on May 16, Narkevicius also tested positive for cocaine, the court heard.
Mitigating Martyn Lord, said the defendant had pleaded guilty to the theft at the earliest opportunity, and had reduced his rates of offending in recent years.
Narkevicius was given a 12-month community order, 180 hours’ unpaid work and an eight-week electronic curfew between 8pm and 6am for theft, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified. He got a two-year driving ban for the motoring offences.
The full article contains 363 words and appears in Wakefield Express Ossett newspaper.