Police helicopter called in after motorist's 'horrendous' driving meant ground pursuit deemed too dangerous
A police helicopter was drafted in after a PSNI pursuit of a car was deemed too dangerous.
Ruairi McGuigan (23), of Townhill Road, Portglenone, crashed into a wall at Portglenone around 9pm on March 14 this year.
He made off on foot but 20 minutes later he returned to the vehicle and had driven off. Police spotted him driving towards Bellaghy and activated blue lights and sirens to get him to stop. The defendant completed dangerous manoeuvres to try to evade police, doing 80mh in a 30mph zone. He overtook vehicles on blind bends and was on the wrong side of the road at excessive speed "for significant periods".
Due to that police suspended the pursuit but a police helicopter was brought in. A 'stinger' was set up near Portglenone but the defendant did a U-turn. A further stinger was set up in Kilrea.
The defendant again made off and when he was eventually stopped the vehicle continued to "rev loudly" . The defendant refused to get out of the car and police forced entry by breaking the driver's side window.
An officer's arm was momentarily caught within the window "and at that point the defendant began to speed off from the area". "He only moved about two metres," but the officer's arm was still inside. The officer was uninjured.
A preliminary breath test was a "pass" but the defendant refused to provide a sample for analysis in custody.
A defence solicitor accepted it had been a "horrendous piece of driving" and the defendant himself had described it as "totally crazy". The court heard the defendant has a "drug problem" and has Asperger's and ADHD.
He was sentenced on charges of dangerous driving; failing to provide a specimen and a charge of assaulting an officer 'with intent to resist or prevent lawful apprehension'.
District Judge Nigel Broderick told the defendant, at Ballymena Magistrates' Court, it was "only but for the grace of God that you didn’t cause a fatality".
He said prison may not address the defendant's underlying issues and instead put him on Probation for a year and banned him from driving for 18 months.