Dangerous driver jailed after pursuit across Cambridge

A man who led police on a dangerous pursuit across Cambridge has been jailed.

Joseph Mahon, 24, swerved onto the wrong side of the road several times during the 40-minute pursuit, which began in Wulfstan Way at 12.40am on July 17 last year after he failed to stop for officers.

Mahon accelerated away from officers in his Ford Transit van, reaching twice the legal speed limit, before slamming on his brakes and reversing into pursuing officers in Queen Edith’s Way.

He continued on the wrong side of the road before driving the wrong way around a roundabout.

Failing to stop at red lights, Mahon veered onto a slip road of the M11 in the wrong direction.

Officers pulled back and joined the M11, eventually catching up with Mahon, who was speeding up the hard shoulder in the wrong direction.

The pursuit continued through Melbourn, Foxton, Harston and back into central Cambridge, coming to an end after Mahon drove through a police stinger in Milton Road and then turned through a no-entry sign onto the guided busway.

Mahon was arrested a short while later after the van came to a stop. He pleaded guilty to charges of criminal damage and dangerous driving and was jailed for three years last Tuesday at Cambridge Crown Court. He was also handed a four-and-a-half year disqualification from driving.

PC Ben Patten said: “Mahon broke just about every rule of the road possible as he recklessly attempted to escape from officers.”