Speedster who zoomed through Kenilworth avoids jail

A driver who sped through Kenilworth's roads at up to 90mph in a high-speed police chase has avoided jail.

Ezra Taitt, 35, of Hathersage Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Warwick Crown Court.

He was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years, ordered to take part in a rehabilitation activity for 40 days and banned from driving for three years.

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Prosecutor Joey Kwong said Taitt was initially pulled over by officers in Leicester Lane, Leamington, on Thursday February 4 for having a faulty brake light.

He gave his name, but then became nervous as the officer began speaking on his radio and sped off, covering 10 miles in 15 minutes before being boxed in by three police cars and stopped.

Initially driving along Leicester Lane, he overtook two vehicles before turning into Westhill Road and then across the roundabout at Stoneleigh Road into Bericote Road.

After joining the A452 at the Thickthorn island, Taitt headed into Kenilworth, overtaking as two vehicles were coming in the opposite direction, forcing them to brake.

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At the one-way system on the approach Kenilworth town centre, he took a right into Birches Lane and then left into Farmer Ward Road, where his speed reached 80mph.

At the end of Farmer Ward Road, Taitt turned into Spring Lane before turning into Upper Rosemary Hill and then speeding along Fieldgate Lane and Beehive Hill at up to 80mph.

He then made a right turn back onto the A452 without stopping, causing two other drivers to brake hard, and headed out of Kenilworth towards Balsall Common at up to 90mph.

In Balsall Common he went to the wrong side of bollards at a pedestrian crossing and the wrong way round the roundabout at the junction with Station Road.

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As he reached the dual carriageway heading north after going through Balsall Common, the police had laid down a stinger mat – which he avoided by swerving onto the grass verge.

The police then began a boxing-in manoeuvre, during which his car hit the side of one police car and ran into the rear of another before finally being brought to a stop with smoke pouring from a blown turbo.

Zaheer Afzal, defending, said Taitt suffers from extreme anxiety as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder following a serious attack on him in Birmingham in 2009. He handed in documents to the judge detailing Taitt’s problems.

Judge Mithani told Taitt his driving could have led to the death of another road-user, but in view of Taitt’s anxiety, he would suspend the sentence.

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