Kenneth Davison, 61, of Ellington Close, Newcastle, has been handed a suspended prison sentence after leading police on a six-minute pursuit along North Tyneside's Coast Road, reaching speeds of more than 125mph. The chase only ended when his Audi S3 crashed and became wedged over a crash barrier.
Threats to 999 call handler
Davison rang police at around 8am on April 8 and told a 999 call handler he was "Mad Kenny". He was behaving erratically and aggressively and asked to speak to the officer in command, telling them he was going to cause carnage on the A1058 road, also known as the Coast Road.
Davison said he was going to drive at 160mph, "go bang" and "end it all", and asked for the road to be closed so no one got hurt, Chronicle Live reports.
Having provided the make and registration number of his car, several police cars were sent to the area to look for the Audi S3. An officer spotted him near Battle Hill with his hazard lights on and weaving between lanes, causing other drivers to slow down to avoid him.
Pursuit and tactical contact
The officer began pursuing him and made "tactical contact", but it was ineffective. Davison failed to stop and continued driving dangerously, reaching speeds of more than 100mph in a 50mph zone. He then began braking heavily, and his car started emitting large clouds of smoke, reducing visibility and posing a danger to pursuing officers and other road users near Silverlink.
Police made tactical contact again, but Davison made hand gestures at them through his window and drove off at an estimated speed of more than 125mph. As he approached the Billy Mill roundabout, he forced his way through traffic waiting at a red light, damaging a car belonging to a doctor who was driving to work at a hospital.
Police then made tactical contact for a third time, but Davison continued driving. He made further hand gestures before driving past the police car, which was now disabled due to the heavy contact with his vehicle. The officer was also left with pain in his hand and shoulder from the collisions.
Wrong-way driving and final crash
Davison started driving on the wrong side of the road along the Coast Road, where he was pursued by a second officer. He was travelling at 120mph before taking the slip road to Silverlink, mounting a grass verge and driving past a queue of traffic.
As he approached the turn-off for the A19, a PC made tactical contact again, but once more he drove off. A third officer then joined the pursuit, positioning his car to try to prevent him from joining the A19. Further tactical contact was made to try to stop him, but this also failed.
Davison started driving towards the entry slip road back onto the Coast Road, and police again rammed him, pushing him up the embankment on the slip road. To the officer's surprise, Davison carried on driving, despite his vehicle now being heavily damaged. The pursuit only came to an end when Davison crashed just after the slip road for Battle Hill, and the car ended up wedged over a crash barrier.
Alcohol and cocaine found
The pursuit lasted six minutes, and the Audi was left with severe front-end damage with its airbags deployed. Police found an empty bottle of vodka in the car, and Davison appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was grinding his teeth, had white residue around his lips and appeared to be having hallucinations. He said he had taken cocaine, and there was a strong smell of alcohol.
When interviewed by police, he said he was intending to end his life, believing he was going to be sacked by his employer. He said he wanted police to help him end his life.
Sentence and judge's remarks
Davison, who has 17 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident and failing to provide a specimen. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 150 hours of unpaid work, an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement for 120 days and was banned from driving for 30 months.
Judge Penny Moreland said he had thwarted a number of attempts to prevent him carrying out his threat to cause carnage because of the level of dangerous driving he exhibited. The judge said he had driven at "enormous speed" and added: "This was 8am at a time when the Coast Road was busy with people driving to work."
"A number of people must have been frightened of you and inconvenienced by what you did. You had an utter disregard for the risk of danger to others."
Jennifer Coxon, defending, said Davison has children and grandchildren and added: "It was an awful incident of dangerous driving, and he is lucky he didn't hurt somebody else or himself." The court heard he had been suffering from an "adjustment disorder" due to struggling to cope with issues at work.
For mental health support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
