Northumbria Police have released footage of a 61-year-old grandad who threatened to cause carnage on the Coast Road before driving at 125mph despite being repeatedly rammed by police. Kenneth Davison, who called himself "Mad Kenny" in a 999 call, was eventually stopped after a six-minute pursuit that ended with his car wedged over a crash barrier.
Threats and Initial Pursuit
Davison rang police at 8am on Wednesday, April 8, telling the call handler he was "Mad Kenny". Behaving erratically and aggressively, he asked to speak to the officer in command, said he was going to cause carnage on the Coast Road, and claimed it needed to be closed because he was going to drive at 160mph and "go bang". He said he would "end it all" and asked for the road to be closed so no one else got hurt.
Having provided the make and registration number of the car, several police cars were sent to the area to look for the Audi S3 he was driving. 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.
High-Speed Chase and Tactical Contact
The officer began pursuing him and made "tactical contact", but it was ineffective and Davison failed to stop, continuing to drive dangerously. He sped off at more than 100mph in a 50mph zone, then began to brake heavily, causing large clouds of smoke that affected visibility for pursuing police and other road users near the Silverlink. Police made tactical contact again, but Davison made hand gestures 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 on their way to work at hospital. Police made tactical contact for a third time, but Davison kept going, making further hand gestures before driving past the police car, which was now disabled due to the heavy contact. The officer was left with pain to his hand and shoulder from the collisions.
Crash and Arrest
Davison then started driving the opposite way on the Coast Road, pursued by a second officer, and was doing 120mph before taking the slip road to Silverlink, mounting a grass verge and going past a queue of traffic. As he approached the turn off for the A19, a PC made tactical contact again, but he drove off. A third officer joined the pursuit, positioning his car to prevent him joining the A19. Further tactical contact failed, and Davison drove towards the entry slip road back onto the Coast Road, where police rammed him, pushing him up the embankment.
Despite his vehicle being heavily damaged, he carried on driving. 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. The Audi was left with severe front end damage and the air bags had been set off. Police found an empty bottle of vodka in the car, and Davison appeared under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There was a strong smell of alcohol, and he was grinding his teeth, had white residue around his lips, and appeared to be having hallucinations. He said he had taken cocaine.
Court Sentence
When interviewed by police, Davison 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. Davison, of Ellington Close, Newcastle, 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 suspended for 18 months, with 150 hours unpaid work, an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement for 120 days, and was banned from driving for 30 months.
Judge Penny Moreland said he had foiled a number of attempts to prevent him carrying out his threat to cause carnage by 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 not coping with things at work.
