A BMW driver hit 115mph down the bypass pursued by police a day after he was spared an immediate jail term for another cop chase.
The day before he made off from police officers on the Eastern Bypass, Sebastian Trivella, 24, had been handed a 10 month suspended sentence at Northampton Crown Court for dangerous driving.
Jailing him for two years and two months, Recorder of Oxford Judge Ian Pringle KC said: “This was a shocking piece of driving.”
READ MORE: Botley Road delays caused by repairs for just one customer
Prosecuting, Cathy Olliver told Oxford Crown Court on Friday (March 17) that police officers were on patrol on the Eastern Bypass on the night of February 24 when Trivella’s BMW passed them at speed.
Suspicious not only about the speed but the fact that one of the saloon’s lights was out, the officers started to follow the car.
“It’s clear Mr Trivella caught on pretty quickly to the fact it was a police car,” Ms Olliver said.
He hit speeds of 100mph on the bypass, which has a 50mph limit, before turning into the Aldi car park at the junction of Horspath Driftway and the bypass.
After speeding around the car park ‘for a while’, the prosecutor said, the BMW returned to the main road – this time reaching 115mph.
Trivella turned into Littlemore, where he reached speeds of 53mph through 20mph zones and went over speed bumps so fast the pursuing police officers could see sparks fly from the bottom of the saloon.
After hitting a dead end on Priory Road he ditched the car, leaving behind his two passengers and fled cross-country to the Kassam Stadium where he was detained by a police officer and dog.
Ms Olliver said the defendant became emotional during his police interview and accused the officer of lying about the fact he had driven over the sleeping policemen at speed.
While at the police station, he asked the custody staff to bring him a new pair of socks as his were soggy. When the officer pulled down the hatch and asked for Trivella’s damp clothing he had two cups of water thrown in his face.
Trivella, of Celandine Place, Greater Leys, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to dangerous driving, disqualified driving, driving without insurance and assaulting an emergency worker.
In mitigation, Trivella’s life was said to have spiralled after the death of his mother. He moved back from Banbury - where he had been found accommodation by his family to take him away from bad influences - to Oxford and began taking drugs to mask the pain of his mother's death.
The dangerous driving at Northampton Crown Court was committed when a friend in the car with him told him to make off from the police.
On February 24 this year, he was delivering a BMW on behalf of an associate – thinking it would be the last task he would have to carry out – when the police started to chase him and he panicked.
Defending, Gordana Austin told the court her client was autistic, had been diagnosed with ADHD and had left school without qualifications. He had the support of his current partner.
Trivella was banned from driving for 14 months, with an extension of 13 months to cover the period he is expected to be in jail before his release.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article