A man who claimed his electric Jaguar was hurtling out of control on the motorway was in fact lying as part of a "frighteningly stupid" attempt to avoid paying his car finance. Nathan Owen, of Prestatyn, claimed he was not in control of his vehicle while driving at high speeds on the motorway in Merseyside, and phoned the emergency services to say he could not stop it.
Incident Details
Liverpool Crown Court heard at around 2.10pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the 33-year-old defendant reported to Merseyside Police that his Jaguar I-PACE had malfunctioned and he was unable to stop. During the incident 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.
Owen 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.
Court Sentencing
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."
Investigation Findings
His car only came to a stop when the vehicle ran out of charge. An extensive investigation between Merseyside Police and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) revealed the car was functioning correctly and was always in the control of the driver by use of the accelerator pedal. Data showed Owen did not press the brakes at any point, despite claiming to do so while on the phone to the 999 call operator.
Owen was arrested on March 13 but denied fabricating the incident for financial gain – maintaining his story that the vehicle was faulty. But an initial delve into his finances showed a high level of personal debt and multiple missed payments on the vehicle finance.
Motive and Aftermath
Text messages recovered from his mobile phone also showed him discussing how to get rid of the vehicle – including getting the car written off - in the months before the reported incident. 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. 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.
Eric Lamb, prosecuting, 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. 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."
Sentence and Police Comment
Owen pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of fraud in June. He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for five years and until an extended driving test has been passed.
Roads Policing investigator, Detective Constable Michael Doyle said: "This was a lengthy and complex investigation during which we were able to disprove Owen's claims that his vehicle was faulty. 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."
