Jail for driver who called 999 to ask police pursuit team to stop following him

A dangerous driver who dialled 999 asking police to call off their pursuit of him as officers chased him during rush-hour has been jailed.

Bruce Dewey, 36, dodged stop sticks deployed to burst his tyres, weaved in and out of traffic and crossed on to the wrong side of the road during the pursuit.

Police started following him after spotting him driving a blue Honda Legend in Tarring Road, Worthing, West Sussex, knowing he only had a provisional driving licence.

As he sped away, he managed to lose police for a short time before officers caught up with him and requested him to stop during the evening rush-hour on February 22.

As he continued on, a police vehicle was put out of action as it became damaged before labourer Dewey was finally stopped on the A27 at Sompting, damaging two more police cars.

At Chichester Crown Court last month, Dewey, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and driving without third party insurance, Sussex Police said.

Dewey was jailed for 15 months, disqualified from driving for three years and told he will have to take an extended retest, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £100, police added.

Pc Peter De Silvo, of the Surrey and Sussex roads policing unit, said: "Thankfully nobody was injured in this incident, which was not conducted at high speed.

"But Dewey's actions in trying to avoid police through a busy Monday evening rush-hour could have had disastrous consequences.

"For nearly 50 minutes he refused to stop for police units, avoided stop sticks deployed to try and burst his tyres and at one point called 999 and asked us to stop following him."