Banned Audi motorist who will 'not abide' by laws jailed for 123mph Leeds chase

David Paxton led the police along the M1 before he turned off into Garforth and drove at more than twice the 30mph limit before crashing into a police car. Appearing at Leeds Crown Court this week, he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while banned and having no insurance.

Prosecutor Oliver Connor said police were on patrol on the northbound carriageway of the M1 near Leeds at around 8.50pm on November 9 last year. Their attention was drawn by an Audi A4 that was travelling at around 90mph.

They flashed for it to pull over and 44-year-old Paxton moved onto the hard shoulder before stopping. But when the officer got out to speak with him, he took off at speed with the officer forced to quickly jump back into his car and continue the pursuit.

The police, with lights illuminated and sirens blaring, reached speeds of 123mph to catch the Audi, which then turned off at J47 and take the third exit towards Castleford. He then doubled back and headed towards Garforth, hitting speeds of 69mph in a 30mph along Aberford Road.

He ran temporary red lights heading towards Main Street before he collided with a police car, causing minimal damage. Paxton, of Lowergate, Paddock, Huddersfield, was arrested and gave a no-comment interview.

The pursuit lasted around eight minutes and was caught on the police’s dashboard camera.

Mitigating, Emma Handley, said: “He has a poor record for driving offences and I can’t escape that. It’s clear he should not have been driving. He panicked and fled from the scene.

“He was driving because he needed to get to work.” She said that he was also a carer for his partner.

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Judge Richard Mansell KC told Paxton: “You have a long and very bad driving record and were on a community order at the time. The sentence can only be a custodial sentence.

“Your determination to drive in breach of driving bans means only a custodial sentence can be justified. There’s little or no chance of rehabilitating you, you will simply not abide by driving bans.”

He jailed Paxton for 10 months and banned him from driving for 29 months.