Driver jailed who led police on 111mph chase near Thirsk

A woman passenger in the queue of traffic suffered 11 different bone fractures, including spinal injuries, broken ribs and a broken ankle and fears she will not be able to do everyday tasks in future, York Crown Court heard. 

She is in her mid-eighties and is still recovering.

In a personal statement, Morrison's passenger and friend told police the driving had nearly killed him and left him with life changing injuries.   A roofer by occupation, he has had to stop work.

In evidence read to the court, the passenger claimed Morrison had been "swigging from a bottle of vodka" as he drove.

After seeing a nine-minute police dashcam video of the pursuit, Judge Simon Hickey called it "horrific graphic footage."

He told Morrison: "This was a complete disregrd of your safety and of other road users."

Morrison's barrister Jessie Heggle said he denied "swigging from a bottle of vodka"  or that he was "going to kill" himself and his passenger as his friend had claimed to police after the crash. 

"He didn't mean to cause harm to anyone," she said. 

Morrison, 20, of Grimethorpe near Barnsley, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, failure to provide a specimen to check if he had been drink driving, and one charge each of drug driving, driving without insurance and driving whilst disqualified.

He was jailed for three years and nine months and banned from driving for eight years and 10 months. He must also take an extended driving test before driving alone again.

The judge said on September 18, three weeks after being banned from driving, Morrison had driven a Shogun to Barnsley to pick up his passenger and was en route to Newcastle when police spotted that he was uninsured and tried to pull him over on the A1(M) northbound.

The court heard that Morrison used the hard shoulder to undertake other vehicles, hitting 111 mph.

He drove at times at more than twice the speed limit along the A61 through Baldersby towards Thirsk.  He went through red lights, overtook approaching a blind summit, straddled no overtaking lines, swerved between the lanes and forced oncoming traffic to take evasive action.

At Skipton-on-Swale, a line of stationary traffic was waiting to go round a broken down minibus near the bridge over the River Swale.  Morrison was going at 86 mph as he approached.

As the traffic ahead started to move out to pass the minibus, he crashed into them causing crashes involving several cars.  

He gave a reading of twice the drink drive limit at the roadside and tested positive for cocaine and cannabis, but refused to provide samples at the police station. 

He also claimed he was not the driver. 

Ms Heggle said Morrison was extremely remorseful and wanted to apologise to those injuried through his actions. 

Around September, he had turned to drink to cope with the fatal illness of his grandmother, who had denied since he was arrested and remanded in custody.   

He also had mental health problems.  

After the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Kirsten Aldridge, who led the police investigation, said: “Morrison showed no regard whatsoever for the lives of other road users, and left two people with horrendous injuries that have changed their lives.

“This incident has no doubt also had a lasting impact on those who he narrowly missed whilst trying to evade police.

“To then lie to us about who was driving and try to blame his actions on someone else was nothing short of cowardly and deceitful.

“Driving while banned may seem like a minor offence to some people. But this case illustrates the contempt for the law and the risk to the public that disqualified drivers can pose, which is why we work so hard to get them off our roads.”

The incident was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) which is standard practice for collisions that follow a police pursuit. The IOPC investigation remains ongoing.