A man who led Nottinghamshire police officers on a high-speed chase has been jailed.
Officers were alerted to a car being taken from a car park in Derby Road, Lenton, shortly before midnight on Sunday 1 May.
The car was then tracked down at around 10.30pm on 2 May, after being spotted driving around Nottingham city centre.
In a bid to escape officers Nicholas Sharpe, of Broughton Street, Broxtowe, then led police on a pursuit where he reached speeds of 80mph in 30mph zones – driving on pavements, through red lights, through restricted areas, onto tram tracks and smashing into a parked car.
In the 38-year-old’s effort to stop officers following him, Sharpe even reversed ramming into a police car causing major damage but thankfully not causing serious injury.
His pursuit for freedom only stopped when he finally crashed into a garden fence coming to a stop and running off from the scene.
But refusing to let Sharpe get away with his crimes officers chased after him and arrested him only seconds later.
Appearing at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 May, Sharpe pleaded guilty to failing to stop, driving without a license, driving without insurance, dangerous driving, failing to provide a sample and aggravated vehicle taking.
Sharpe was sentenced to 12 months in prison and disqualified from driving for 24 months.
Sergeant Laura McCullough, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Sharpe’s driving placed not only himself but our officers and members of the public in the path of that car at risk of serious harm and injury – it’s incredibly lucky that no-one was seriously injured during this incident.
“Thanks to our officer’s dedication and the investigative work carried out we were able to locate him and arrest him when he decided to run from the scene of the crash.
“The laws on our roads exist for a reason – to protect members of the public from harm and ensure their safety and as we have said time and time again, we will never tolerate this kind of driving on our streets and always bring those responsible to justice.
“I hope it shows to anyone thinking they can escape pursuing officers that we won’t give up and will use all the resources available to us to catch those responsible for endangering the public.”
