Cannabis smoker fled cops in 120mph police chase in Nottinghamshire

A dangerous 120 mph police chase was sparked when a young Nottinghamshire cannabis smoker tried to escape because he had no insurance, a court heard.
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Police first spotted Samuel O'Neill's Audi in a layby on Whitewater Lane, near Walesby, at 8.30pm, on August 10, last year, said prosecutor Noel Philo.

They followed him to Ollerton, but when they signalled for him to stop on Greenwood Crescent, O'Neill accelerated to 70mph in a 50mph zone.

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The police helicopter and stingers were requested as he travelled through Kirton at 70mph, and reached 100mph on the way to Tuxford.

Read the latest stories from Nottingham Crown Court.Read the latest stories from Nottingham Crown Court.
Read the latest stories from Nottingham Crown Court.

O'Neill braked heavily and undertook a vehicle at a junction on the Great North Road and drove straight across a zebra crossing where people were waiting.

Four passengers, including a young woman who was "in hysterics", jumped out of the Audi and O'Neill drove off.

"There would have been a collision as it swerved around a mini-roundabout," said Noel Philo, prosecuting.

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He turned south on the A1 and reached 120mph as he undertook cars in the fast lane, cutting across an HGV at the Newark junction.

O'Neill ran red lights on Lincoln Road before abandoning the car on Mather Road. Police pursued him along a towpath by the river and tracked him down to a clump of trees in a carpark, where a dog handler had to threaten to loose a dog before he surrendered. He later refused to provide a breath sample for analysis.

Anthony Dunne, mitigating, said: "He knew he had taken cannabis and was uninsured and he wished to avoid the consequences.”

He said O'Neill, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

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"He has stopped smoking cannabis," he said. "If he were allowed his liberty he will be allowed to start a job."

Judge Simon Hirst rang a number that O'Neill supplied to confirm he has a landscaping job waiting for him if he avoids custody.

O'Neill, 21, of Lincoln Road, Tuxford, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, and without insurance, possession of cannabis, and failing to provide a specimen.

On Friday, Judge Hirst sentenced him to ten months, suspended for two years, with 20 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work. O'Neill was also banned for two years and must take an extended re-test and pay £625 costs.

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