A young mum sparked a motorway police chase after she “panicked” about collecting passports for a family getaway.
Sophia Dillon, 20, from Everton, Liverpool, wasn’t covered by insurance to drive the BMW and only had a provisional licence. Despite not being legally permitted to drive solo, Dillon led the cops on a 121mph pursuit along the M60 – with the drama ending when officers discovered her two year old son in the back seat.
Dillon raced dangerously between other cars and almost spun out behind a lorry – although insists her son wasn’t initially in the car during the chase, claiming she picked him up while the police momentarily lost track of her. Prosecutors argued the toddler was seated in a booster without a seatbelt when the BMW was finally stopped. But the judge concluded there was no concrete evidence to confirm the child’s presence during the high-speed chase.
Throughout the seven-minute chase, the waitress undertook on the hard shoulder and drove over a rumble strip on the motorway.
She was disqualified from driving for 18 months
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Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)
She was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work
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Image:
Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)
Warrington Magistrates’ Court was told that she managed to lose the pursuing officer after exiting a section of the eastbound M60 near Manchester and running red lights. The car was found by another officer 10 minutes later, reports the Echo.
When questioned, Dillon explained her “panic” stemmed from collecting family passports in Liverpool before heading to Manchester Airport for a holiday. She denied her son was with her in the car while she was being chased by police, claiming she had picked him up during the time officers lost sight of her.
Dillon pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and not having insurance or a driving licence, receiving a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. During the sentencing, Deputy District Judge John Rowan said: “I suspect that the child was in the car and if I was sure of that, I would be locking her up. However, I can’t be sure. Only she knows if the child was in the car. If the child was in the car, I hope that she has sleepless nights about it.”
He continued: “You were not permitted on the road and police attempted to stop you. We have all seen the footage of that dreadful level of driving. It involved busy lanes, your speeding, weaving between vehicles. You nearly lost control of the vehicle behind an HGV lorry. You then evaded police through red lights and eventually lost them.”
“It then turns out at some point, you picked up your two year-old son. I cannot sentence you on the basis of your two year-old son being in the vehicle at the time of the offence, as much as I might suspect it. However, even if your son was not in that vehicle you put yourself and other road users at risk of serious injury and death.”
Police chased the BMW around 12.25pm on a Tuesday back in July when they tried to escort it off the motorway at junction 11. Sarah McInerney, representing the prosecution, said: “The CPS cannot say the child was in the vehicle at the time of the offence. Unbelievably no-one was hurt.”
Offering a defence for Dillon, barrister Brian Jackson mentioned there’s “no admissible evidence that the child was in the car at the time of the driving”. He said the ordeal stemmed from panic on a stressful day with Dillon anticipating to meet her child and partner at Manchester Airport later that evening.
He continued: ”She is clearly traumatised by the whole situation. She has never been in trouble with the police and had never been in a police station. From my interactions with her, she has been nothing but polite and distraught over the unfortunate predicament she finds herself in. It all escalated after she panicked when her boyfriend had a snap medical appointment; this before she headed to Liverpool to collect passports to deliver to relatives, prior to dashing off to Manchester Airport.”
Dillon was also ordered to fulfil 150 hours of unpaid work and received an 18-month driving ban.