Police have released dramatic footage of a high-speed chase with a dangerous driver. Kai Hopkins first came to the attention of officers when he was spotted driving erratically in Huntington Street, near Nottingham city centre.
After noticing his car's registration plates had playing cards attached to them to obscure them from view, police told him to pull over. Hopkins ignored them and sped off in the direction of Trent Bridge – starting a pursuit which would last around 20 minutes.
Ignoring multiple red lights and swerving all over the road, narrowly missing oncoming traffic, Hopkins led officers on a tour through a series of busy residential areas. The driver was clocked going at more than double the speed limit in 30mph zones on several occasions, with police following at a safe distance to try and prevent a collision.
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An attempt was then made by police to puncture the car's tyres by deploying a 'stinger' as it headed towards the A52. Hopkins dodged it and instead headed in the direction of the motorway.
After finally reaching the M1, he continued to put his foot down, with camera footage filmed on board the pursuing cars showing him topping 100mph more than once. Several police cars were involved in the chase at this point, with police from the force's road crime team and armed response officers working together to try and put the brakes on the fleeing driver.
The pursuing officers' driving skills then came to the fore as they managed to carry out a successful 'box' manoeuvre to stop the car. Even after being boxed in, Hopkins tried to escape by twice ramming a squad car in front of him.
But he was unable to get away and was arrested at the side of the motorway to conclude the chase on January 2 last year. After admitting to charges of dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance, Hopkins, 22, appeared before Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday (February 16).
Hopkins, of Lemsford Road, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was handed a three-year community order. He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.
PC Jeremy Beard, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "It's only thanks to the driving skills demonstrated by pursuing officers and sheer luck that Hopkins' actions that day didn't lead to someone being seriously injured. By choosing to drive in the incredibly dangerous manner that he did, in what for long parts of this incident were built up residential areas, he put everyone in his near vicinity at risk of harm.
"He showed a complete and utter disregard for the safety of other members of the community and has rightly been brought before the courts as a result. I sincerely hope this provides him with a serious wake-up call and he uses this experience to better himself going forward."
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