Dangerous driver who tried to outrun police in Derbyshire at 100 mph banned

A dangerous driver who tried to outrun police in Derbyshire at 100 mph in a 40 mph zone has been banned after he crashed and wrote off his car.
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Scaffolder Levi Hoole thought he was over the limit when police pulled him over and took off at high speeds before losing control of his Honda on a right angle bend.

Police who were trying to keep up with him same a massive cloud of dust as he crashed into a wall at about 85 mph, Exeter Crown Court was told.

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Ironically, he later passed a breath test and gave a blood test which was also under the drink drive limit after he was taken to hospital for a check-up.

Police officers.Police officers.
Police officers.

Hoole, aged 27, of South Street, Crewkerne, and previously of Mount Pleasant Road, Exeter, admitted dangerous driving and failing to stop and was jailed for six months, suspended for two years by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court.

He was banned from driving for two years, sent on a 19-session thinking skills course, and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid community work.

The judge told him: ”This was an exceptionally dangerous piece of driving, albeit over a comparatively limited time and distance. Your speed increased rapidly to approximately 100 mph.

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“It doesn’t matter how good a driver you think you are; the reality is that it is exceptionally dangerous. It only takes one unexpected car or cyclist and for all you know, the outcome would quite likely be fatal.

“The best illustration of the risks you were taking and your lack of proper control was that you could not negotiate a turning and ended up crashing at speed into a wall.”

Mr Gareth Evans, prosecuting, said Hoole was visiting Derbyshire at 9.17 pm on July 19 last year when police tried to stop him as a suspected drink driver.

They followed him North up the A38 from Lower Kilburn, near Derby, and lit up their blue lights as he turned left onto the A610 near Ripley.

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He pulled over initially but police asked him to drive on to roundabout. When he reached it, he turned left and raced off at speeds which rapidly reached 100 mph in a 60 mph limit.

He was still doing 100 mph when he moved into a 40 mph but had slowed down when he crashed at a 90 degree bend a few hundred metres up the road.

He was unhurt but taken to hospital as a precaution. His car was written off. The pursuit itself lasted for just 70 to 80 seconds.

Mr Stephen Nunn, defending, said Hoole suffers from ADHD and panicked because he had been drinking wine and thought he was over the drink drive limit.

He has been assessed as suitable for a thinking skills course and is a good prospect for rehabilitation.