A man who drove his electric Jaguar at high speeds on motorways and claimed it would not brake in a “frighteningly stupid” attempt to avoid paying his car finance has been jailed for four years and three months.
Nathan Owen, 33, collided with a police car 31 times as officers attempted to stop him after he phoned emergency services to tell them his vehicle was accelerating and not in his control, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday.
He drove at speeds of up to 86mph on the M58, M57 and M62 in Merseyside for about 35 minutes, over a distance of about 38 miles, during the incident on March 6 2024.
Judge's remarks
Sentencing him, Judge Ian Unsworth KC said: “You set in train a course of conduct which caused a significant police traffic operation to be deployed, undoubted alarm to the public and very substantial loss and disruption to others.”
The judge said police officers placed themselves in danger because they believed they were dealing with a genuine emergency.
Addressing Owen, he added: “You, meanwhile, sought to profit from a lie.”
Background of the incident
Eric Lamb, prosecuting, said Owen, of Prestatyn, North Wales, had entered into a finance agreement in September 2023 for the Jaguar I-Pace.
He ran into “financial difficulties” and was in arrears with CA Auto Finance by March the following year with about £5,000 left to pay, the court heard.
On the day of the incident, he called loan company Plata to ask if he would be able to borrow more on top of the £3,000 he had already loaned from them, but was told he could not.
Five minutes later, shortly after 2pm, he called 999 claiming his car would not brake and he had no control over the vehicle, which he said was accelerating.
Mr Lamb said: “In fact, his car was stationary at the time of that call.”
Police response and investigation
Police attended and the car, which was then travelling at speeds of up to 86mph, had to be boxed off by emergency service vehicles to keep other road users safe before it came to a stop on the M62 near Warrington, Cheshire.
Investigations found there was no fault with the car, the court heard.
Mr Lamb said: “He had fabricated the events in order to enable him to get rid of the vehicle.
“He had full control of the vehicle and with full control of the vehicle he travelled at excessive and extreme speeds.”
Motorways had to be closed as a result of the incident, the court heard.
Footage of the police pursuit of Owen was played in court, along with the audio from his 999 call, in which he was heard telling an operator he was “shaking” and the car had “gone crazy”.
When the car was eventually brought to a stop the brake lights could be seen turning on.
Owen contacted the finance company 40 minutes after the incident.
He was later paid £300 by The Sun and £500 by the Daily Mail for his story, the court heard.
Impact and defence
In a statement, Murray Paul, from Jaguar Land Rover UK, said the firm had spent an extra £50 million in marketing to try and counter the publicity from the false allegations, which they said generated 180 pieces of adverse media coverage.
Daniel Travers, defending, said Owen’s actions were “frighteningly stupid”.
He said Owen, who had no previous convictions and came from a “successful, stable family”, had been described by his father as a Walter Mitty character who “lives in a fantasy world”.
He added: “He had grand ideas and things just went wrong.”
Owen pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of fraud in June.
He was banned from driving for a period of five years after his release from custody.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Michael Doyle said: “It was clear from our investigations that he was in full control of his vehicle throughout the duration of the incident.
“By his own admission there were workers on the hard shoulder of the motorway and he clearly put them and other road users in danger with his reckless actions.”
A charge of causing a public nuisance was ordered to lie on the file.
