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100mph driver who led police on 20-mile chase from Cambridge to Soham is jailed for a year




A driver who sped at up to 100mph in 40mph zones while being chased by police during a 20-mile pursuit has been jailed for a year.

Darren Thurling, 46, of The Causeway, Soham, drove through red lights, undertook vehicles and narrowly avoided a lorry as police tried to stop him for having no insurance.

Darren Thurling, 46, of The Causeway, Soham. Picture: Cambridgeshire police (51413776)
Darren Thurling, 46, of The Causeway, Soham. Picture: Cambridgeshire police (51413776)

He came to officers’ attention as he drove his Audi A4 along King’s Hedges Road, in Cambridge, at about 1.40am on August 23.

A 20-minute chase followed, in which he reached up to 70mph in a 30mph zone as he drove towards the A14.

He then hit 100mph in a 40mph zone as he travelled towards the A10 north of Ely, before driving the wrong side of a keep-left bollard and on the wrong side of a roundabout.

Officers attempted to pass him but Thurling swerved to block them, continuing towards Stretham. He went the wrong way around a roundabout and nearly collided with a lorry.

Driving through Wicken, he continued along the A1123 towards Soham and veered onto the wrong side of the road.

Finally, in Fordham Road, Soham, Thurling hit a brick wall after his vehicle colliding with the police car and a lamp post, setting the Audi’s airbags off.

Thurling appeared at Cambridge Crown Court last Thursday, where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison and disqualified from driving for three years and six months after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and driving without a licence and insurance.

PC Emily Ingle, who investigated, said: “Thurling’s driving was very dangerous. This incident could have ended with him being pulled over for having no insurance but instead there was a 20-minute pursuit in which he put himself and other road users at great risk.”

As part of its podcast series, Cambridgeshire police have posted a discussion with a mother who tells the story of how she lost her daughter in a collision: https://bit.ly/3ClaxfN.



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