Man jailed for dangerous driving following police chase

A man has been jailed after he drove on an oncoming lane of traffic to avoid police in Stoke-on-Trent.

Michael Doherty, 31, from Tunstall, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Friday 7 June to a year-and-10-months behind bars after pleading guilty to driving a motor vehicle dangerously, driving whilst disqualified, driving without a license and driving without insurance.

Doherty has also been banned from driving for five-years-and-11-months and given eight penalty points.

It comes after Doherty was spotted driving a grey Audi A3 down the wrong way on Foundry Street, Hanley, during the early hours of 8 December last year.

He then mounted the pavement on Trinity Street, Hanley, to avoid a road closure and continued to drive dangerously through the Chell Heath and Tunstall areas.

We followed him through Kidsgrove and stung one of the tyres. Doherty then drove on the wrong side of the A500, against oncoming traffic, to get away.

The Audi came to a stop on Newcastle Street, Longport, with the car no longer driveable.

Shortly after, Doherty was detained and having been questioned in custody, he was subsequently charged with the offences.

At the time he was arrested, Doherty was found to only have a provisional license.

Following the sentencing, PC Rebecca Tyler, who dealt with the case, said: “Doherty had a complete disregard for other road users and put lives at risk.

“We welcome the court’s decision to jail Doherty as well as ban him from driving, as our roads have no place for such dangerous and reckless behaviour.”

Doherty has been ordered to take an extended driving test and pay a surcharge of £187.

We’re committed to proactively policing our roads and taking action against those putting other motorists at risk.

Recently, we launched our Look Again campaign in a bid to reduce the number of serious and fatal collisions in Staffordshire.

We arrested 70 people on suspicion of a number of driving offences over the course of the campaign.

To read more about it, visit: Seventy arrested as campaign drives home road safety message | Staffordshire Police