A 14-YEAR-old joyrider escaped from police by driving along side streets and over pavments at speeds over 70mph, a court heard yesterday.
Police officers who pursued the teenager told Dundee Sheriff Court that they lost sight of the car he was driving during a high-speed chase through the city's streets.
The boy is accused of 17 offences during a six-week joyriding spree. The charges include three of dangerous driving, five of driving without a licence, and another five of driving without insurance, contravention of bail conditions, resisting arrest, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Detective Sergeant Malcolm Gibbs told the court how he had been in a car chasing the boy but made no ground on the vehicle despite driving at high speeds. He said: ``We were travelling at up to 70mph and we weren't gaining any on him.
``He had a fair start on us and we lost him as he went over a hill. He must have been travelling at speeds in excess of 70mph and, in my opinion, too fast for the conditions at the time.''
He added: ``When he came to a roundabout he just kept going without looking for any other cars. Two other vehicles had to brake sharply to avoid bumping into him.
``We were forced to brake to avoid the cars that had stopped. It was just after that we lost him. I got a very good look at the driver. I knew him from before and there is no doubt in my mind that it was the accused.''
Under cross examination by advocate Mark Stewart, for the accused, Sergeant Gibbs conceded that he did not actually see the cars on the roundabout braking. He told the court: ``We were some distance behind him so I didn't see the cars braking but they must have come to a stop somehow.''
Asked whether it could have been another youth who was driving the car, Mr Gibbs answered: ``No.''
The court then heard how the boy had been seen driving another car one month later, on March 7 this year. Constable David Small told the court that he had been patrolling on foot when a Ford Escort had pulled up on the opposite side of the road.
He said: ``I recognised the driver and I knew that an offence was being committed. I walked over to speak to the driver but he pulled away.
``We started a search of the area but we did not trace him.''
The trial continues.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article