Dangerous driver played Russian roulette with other peoples' lives in 90mph chase through Sutton
A dangerous driver played Russian roulette with other peoples' lives when he led police on a 90mph chase through Sutton town centre before crashing, a court has heard.
Police spotted Josh Soar speeding along Lammas Road in his White VW Scirocco just after midnight on November 20, last year, and he initally slowed down before making off, said prosecutor Philip Cowburn.
"Had he collided with anyone there was not a prayer they would have survived," said Judge Michael Auty KC after watching dashcam footage of the pursuit.
Soar crashed into the central reservation and two parked vehicles with such force a wheel from his car became was knocked loose.
More footage showed Max, a four-year-old German Shepherd police dog, find Soar hiding underneath a van a short distance from the scene, and saying, “Mate, I’m not doing anything.”
Nottingham Crown Court heard Soar had 86 microgrammes of alcohol in his system when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Lucy Jones, mitigating, said: “Watching the footage you might think a hardened criminal was behind the wheel.
“In fact he was a stupid young man who made a string of stupid decisions that night. He agrees it is the worst decision of his life.
“I can say nothing about the driving except that it was short-lived. The root cause of his offending is alcohol and this will not be addressed if he goes to prison.
"He is still paying off the car. He got £200 in scrap for it.”
On Tuesday Judge Auty said: “This was as bad a case of dangerous driving as these courts see. It is playing Russian roulette with the lives of other people on the road.
“You drank five or six pints of beer before getting behind the wheel,” he told Soar. “You know all about drink driving because you have a previous conviction for it from 2023.
“Yet again you chose to drive while under the influence of drink. You were plainly driving far too fast when the police saw you.”
Soar, aged 27, of The Oval, Sutton, admitted dangerous driving and drink driving when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, in December.
He received a 14-month prison sentence and a five-year driving ban.