Man who ran red lights and led police on dangerous chase through Cambridgeshire streets jailed - after pretending to be sleeping when he was arrested

Jacob Williams was shown to have no insurance on his Vauxhall Combo van through automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) as he drove along Warboys Road, in Bury, near Ramsey, at just after 9pm on 13 March of last year.

An officer indicated for Williams to stop but he sped up and drove towards Biggins Lane.

He continued along several streets without stopping at junctions, obeying speed limits, or in High Street, stopping for traffic lights.

An oncoming vehicle caused Williams, 25 and of Cross Drove, Wistow, Huntindgon to drive on the pavement before he turned onto Little Whyte and through a no entry sign. He then got out of the van and ran.

The traffic officer chased him on foot to the back of a butcher’s shop, where Williams was lying down next to bins pretending to have woken up from a nap.

Williams claimed he’d bought the van for £80 and was taking it on a test drive to see if it was ok so he could sell it for more money. He claimed he was sitting in the passenger seat while his friend drove.

However, on Tuesday (2 July) at Cambridge Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight months in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for 28 months.

Traffic officer PC Ian Swales said: “By leading us on a chase, Williams put pedestrians and other drivers’ lives at risk. Luckily, no one was injured and Williams was caught and will now be prevented from driving for more than two years.

“We take driving offences very seriously and reckless behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Dangerous driving covers the below:

driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

driving with no insurance or without a licence

speeding or careless driving

driving an unroadworthy vehicle

driving whilst using a mobile device

Anyone with information is urged to contact police either online at www.cambs.police.uk/report or call 101.