A man led police on a chase through Cardiff before crashing into bushes after going the wrong way around a roundabout and then attempting to flee the scene. When Monty Lee was eventually caught by police constable Richard Harrison it was discovered he was also driving without insurance and whilst disqualified.
Josh Scouller, prosecuting, told a sentencing hearing at Caridff Crown Court on Wednesday how PC Harrison, driving an unmarked police car in Rumney on the evening of August 5, noticed Lee’s Ford Transit van on Southern Way didn’t have working rear lights. After briefly following the van the officer then noticed it swaying from side to side and occasionally veering into the centre of the road.
Mr Scouller explained how PC Harrison then decided to illuminate his blue lights and wave the defendant to pull over. But rather than pulling over Lee sped up, driving up to 60mph down Southern Way towards Trowbridge.
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In a bizarre series of decisions Lee then drove the wrong way around a roundabout in an attempt to shake off PC Harrison, but he was driving at such speed at the roundabout that his van toppled over and skidded into some bushes. After Lee escaped the van and took off PC Harrison drew his taser and shouted to the defendant to get to the floor, but Lee continued to run until he lost his footing and fell to the ground.
Officers conducted a breathalyser and found Lee hadn’t been drinking alcohol prior to the incident. But the officers established he was disqualified from driving at the time and wasn’t insured to drive the vehicle. Officers charged him with dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, driving whilst disqualified and driving whilst uninsured.
Lee, 27, of Wentloog Road, Trowbridge, has two convictions on his record for seven previous offences - including driving while disqualified in 2020 and using a vehicle while uninsured. Mr Scouller noted that while the incident was “relatively short” Lee's actions endangered other drivers and pedestrians. He added that Lee was driving at night at the time where visibility was impeded for other road users.
Jonathan Webb, for Lee, said his client’s strongest mitigation were his guilty pleas and his “genuine remorse shown by his guilty pleas and the notes in the presentence report shows insight into what he has done”. “He fully appreciates the predicament he has put himself in and his family in by his foolish actions on August 5,” Mr Webb told judge Shomon Khan.
“While he doesn’t provide an excuse, he did believe he was being pursued by persons he owed drug debt to. Following the death of his grandfather he slipped into drug issues and he ran up a debt.”
Judge Khan pointed out that the defendant knew for some time during the chase that it was a police car following him because of the blue flashing lights. Mr Webb responded: “I am not suggesting that at any point this was not a police pursuit. I am saying that certainly at some point the impression the defendant had was that he was being pursued by individuals that were a danger to him.”
Mr Webb added that the maximum speed Lee reached was 60mph and that nobody was injured in the incident. He accepted that his client’s case is “clearly aggravated by his previous convictions and that there was a collision”.
Lee, a landscape gardener with two children, was sentenced to 12 months - half of which he will serve in prison. Judge Khan described Lee’s actions as “an extremely dangerous piece of driving which put others and yourself at significant risk”.
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