Boozy McDonald's drive-thru motorist jailed for trying to outrun police

A drink driver who tried to flee police after stopping at a McDonald's drive thru has been jailed.
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Nathan Luke Haytack was only caught when he tried to squeeze his vehicle down a narrow alleyway and became stuck between a house and a wall, trapping him and his passengers inside, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The police had been called to the McDonald's restaurant in Pontefract on the evening of February 19 to reports that a VW Touran was at the drive-thru and the passengers were drinking bottles of wine.

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Prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe said the police arrived just as the Touran was pulling out of the car park and began following the vehicle.

McDonald's in Pontefract.McDonald's in Pontefract.
McDonald's in Pontefract.

When they turned on their blue lights, Haytack indicated to pull over, and when an officer got out to speak with him, he pulled away at such speed the wheels began to spin and almost collided with another police vehicle that had arrived.

They pursued Haytack along Park Lane towards North Featherstone, reaching speed of up to 70mph along the 40mph stretch.

The 21-year-old then turned left onto Featherstone Lane and continued to drive at around 50mph in the built-up 30mph area.

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He eventually turned off onto an estate towards Post Office Road where Haytack began heading down alleyways to get away, before one became too narrow and the car became lodged between the house and a wall.

Unable to escape, the driver was eventually released, and repeatedly told officers "I'm sorry, I was stupid".

Bottles of wine were recovered from the footwell.

Haytack was breathalysed and blew 65 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.

He later said he'd had shots of vodka.

Haytack, of Priory Road, Featherstone, has previous convictions for driving, along with a breach of a restraining order he received for harassment.

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For his latest appearance, he admitted dangerous driving, drink driving, driving without a licence and without insurance.

He told probation that the VW Touran belonged to a friend, and told a probation officer that the incident had "been a wake-up call".

He said that he had been drinking heavily at the time to cope with the loss of his grandmother.

Mitigating, Ishmael Uddin told the court: "He is troubled young man, but he fully accepts what the Crown says.

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"His immaturity and lack of life experience spring to mind."

He said that he now had a job as a car valeter and was putting his life back on track.

The judge, Recorder Andrew Latimer, jailed him for six months and said: "It was a police pursuit, you were over the drink-drive limit by some margin and you continued to until you got stuck."

He also banned from driving for 21 months.