Mansfield motorist who sped away from police weeks after driving ban is jailed

Wieslaw Dabek had been hit with a road ban in February by magistrates for failing to provide a specimen of breath when police suspected he was over the limit, Nottingham Crown Court was told on Friday.

But in March, the 46-year-old, of George Street, Mansfield, was spotted behind the wheel of his car in the town centre and tried to escape down vehicle-lined residential streets at speeds, the court was told, were inappropriate.

He then abandoned the vehicle and tried to escape on foot but was apprehended by officers, the court was told.

Dabek was arrested on March 12 and remanded into custody following the incident.

He later admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance, said Stephen Kemp, prosecuting.

Mitigating, Katrina Wilson told the court: “He initially moved to Poland where he met his partner and the two of them moved to this country 13 years ago.

“He was a hard-working man, but things spiralled out of control. It was a relatively short-lived piece of driving, in and around the 30mph speed limit on those roads, and there were no other people affected.”

Sentencing Dabek to nine months in prison, Recorder Andrew O’Connor QC told him: “Driving at 30mph may still be too fast on residential streets, and it was residential streets that you were driving on.

“You clearly drove recklessly, because you ignored a ‘no entry’ sign and drove the wrong way down a one-way street. The police officers didn’t see anyone on the street, but at 6.30pm on a Friday evening is just the sort of time that people, including children, are coming and going, and you could not have known whether anyone was about to step out.

“Due to the time of year it would also have been dark and it’s a matter of complete chance that someone wasn’t injured or killed.”

Mr O’Connor said that the time Dabek had already served on remand would be taken from his sentence, but a suspended sentence issued by magistrates in February will also stand until next year.

He also banned Dabek for a further 15 months and the disqualification will not begin until he is released from prison.

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