A banned driver who tore along streets in Birmingham and Solihull at speeds reaching 115mph has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Kamar Farooq travelled at almost four times the legal limit – at times on the wrong side of the road – before crashing the £85,000 BMW M3 into a traffic island and careering into a car at a petrol station. All the action was caught by a police-car dash-cam.
West Midlands Police patrol officers became suspicious when they spotted Farooq behind the wheel of the car in Washwood Heath Road on 23rd September last year – but when they tried pulling it over the 30-year-old sped away.
During the dramatic chase, he was also followed by a police helicopter, which recorded his every move as he sped down the wrong side of a quiet street.
After the collision in Chester Road, Castle Bromwich, Farooq jumped into the backseat alongside two other men and claimed to have been a passenger.
All three were arrested but officers managed to secure CCTV footage earlier that night showing the driver wearing clothes matching that of Farooq’s when he was arrested.
Farooq, of Aston Lane, Aston, still denied being the driver but at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (25 August) was convicted and jailed for dangerous driving and getting behind the wheel while disqualified; he was also given a 10-year driving ban.
PC Robert Lattimer, from the roads policing unit at Chelmsley Wood, said: “This was reckless driving by someone who should not have been behind the wheel.
“Officers had suspicions around the vehicle and tried to pull it over; but Farooq failed to stop and hit speeds of 115mph in 30mph zones.
“He tried to deny being the driver despite our investigations which secured such strong evidence against him.”This was a high performance vehicle and the outcome could have been much worse. He now faces a long time behind bars rather than behind the wheel of a car.”
