Blackpool provisional driver went straight over grass roundabout road during dangerous police chase

Dillon Peck, 20, of Broughton Avenue, Blackpool, almost struck a pedestrian as he sped through an estate, and narrowly missed other vehicles as he deliberately evaded police at around 4.20pm on May 30, 2019.

He made sudden erratic turns, mounted a grass verge to undertake queuing traffic, went through red lights, and drove straight over a grass roundabout.

After around nine minutes Peck leapt from the moving Volkswagen Golf, which he had bought off Facebook for £800, on Caunce Avenue, where the rolling car crashed into a wall and gatepost.

Imposing a 12 month jail term, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work, Judge Philip Parry said it was "astonishing" someone wasn't injured or killed.

Peck, a cleaner in a food factory, later claimed he had been taking his girlfriend home and that she had been "egging him on."

Prosecuting, Charlie Brown said: " When shown footage of the incident he expressed signs of shock at his own driving."

Defending, Claire Larton said Peck had panicked and agreed he had expressed shame and shock when he viewed the footage at the police station.

She added: "It was relatively short in duration and thankfully no injuries were caused."

Peck admitted dangerous driving.

Imposing a deprivation order for his car, a two year ban and an extended test, Judge Parry said: "What happened for those nine minutes can only be described as an absolutely horrific example of persistent and lengthy dangerous driving.

"It is frankly a miracle - and I'm still baffled even now to understand how - other road users were not injured or even killed as a result of your incredibly dangerous driving."

He said it was a "cruel irony" Peck himself had been injured in a serious accident, and stressed he had avoided an immediate jail term by the skin of his teeth.