Technology tracked a teenager who led police on a 21-mile pursuit lasting 30 minutes. Police spotted Brooklyn Woodman driving an Audi A1 and, as he looked young, followed him.
But when they pulled alongside him he sped off. Having initially lost him, police deployed road traffic cameras to track his whereabouts as well as a helicopter using a night vision camera to give them an eye in the sky.
After half-an-hour Woodman, who had two passengers in his car, clipped a kerb, came to a halt and ran off. And after a foot chase police found him hiding behind a concrete pillar and arrested him.
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Woodman, 19, of Pondhead in Pill, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving without the proper driving licence and insurance as well as drug driving. He appeared before Bristol Crown Court for sentence today (November 2, 2022).
The recorder Mr Harris handed him eight months' custody, suspended for two years, banned him from driving for two years and also handed him a 12 month curfew and rehabilitation. The judge told him: "You have started to acknowledge the seriousness of the offence."
Lucy Taylor, prosecuting, said it was in September last year when at 1.25am police attended an unrelated incident outside a pub on Bourneville Road, Weston-super-Mare, and spotted a "quite young" looking Woodman driving an Audi. Miss Taylor said police followed him discreetly as he headed towards Bristol, before pulling alongside him at a roundabout.
The court heard it was then that Woodman accelerated away and onto the A370 and police gave chase. Miss Taylor said police lost sight of him, but then monitored his progress via ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras and saw he was heading northbound on the M5.
Miss Taylor said: "At 1.30am firearms officers joined the pursuit. Mr Woodman's vehicle left at Junction 20 and took the B3130 at Tickenham and then on towards Bristol at 70mph in the 60mph limit."
The court heard Woodman headed towards Long Ashton at speeds of up to 80mph through a 50mph limit and 70mph through a 40mph zone. After braking only slightly at a give way sign he drove the wrong way up a slip road, clipped a kerb, stopped the Audi and scarpered.
A police helicopter then liaised with officers on the ground as Woodman sprinted through a trading estate and into a park. He was found and arrested and a later blood test showed he was over the drug driving limit, the court heard.
Eshanul Oarith, defending, said his client was starting to acknowledge how serious his behaviour was, and how he could have killed someone. Urging a suspended sentence, Mr Oarith said: "His rehabilitation will have to come from him understanding the consequences of his actions."
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