Kenneth Davison, a 61-year-old grandfather, has been sentenced after threatening to cause carnage on the Coast Road and leading police on a high-speed chase that reached 125mph. Officers repeatedly rammed his vehicle before the pursuit ended in a crash.
Davison called police at 8am on Wednesday, 8 April this year, telling a 999 call handler he was "Mad Kenny". Acting erratically and aggressively, he demanded to speak to the officer in charge and threatened to cause carnage on the Coast Road, insisting it needed to be closed because he intended to drive at 160mph and "go bang". He said he would "end it all" and requested the road be shut to prevent other motorists from coming to harm.
Pursuit begins near Battle Hill
After providing the make and registration number of his vehicle, several police cars were dispatched to the area in search of the Audi S3 he was driving. An officer located him near Battle Hill with his hazard lights on, weaving between lanes and forcing other drivers to slow down to avoid a collision.
The officer gave chase and made "tactical contact", but this proved ineffective as Davison refused to stop and continued driving recklessly, speeding away at more than 100mph in a 50mph zone. He then began braking heavily, his car billowing large clouds of smoke which posed a serious danger to the pursuing officers and other road users by severely reducing visibility near the Silverlink.
Multiple ramming attempts
Police attempted tactical contact once more, but Davison responded with hand gestures through his window before accelerating away at speeds estimated to exceed 125mph. As he neared the Billy Mill roundabout, he forced his way through traffic queued at a red light, causing damage to a car belonging to a doctor who was on their way to work at hospital.
Officers then made tactical contact for a third time, but still Davison pressed on. He made further hand gestures before driving past the police vehicle, which had been left disabled due to the heavy impact it had sustained. The officer also suffered pain to his hand and shoulder as a result of the collisions.
Davison then began driving the wrong way along the Coast Road, where a second officer gave chase. He reached speeds of 120mph before taking the slip road to Silverlink, mounting a grass verge and passing a queue of stationary traffic.
Chase ends in crash
As he approached the turn-off for the A19, a PC made tactical contact once more, but again he sped away. A third officer joined the pursuit, positioning his vehicle in an attempt to prevent Davison from joining the A19. Further tactical contact was made in a bid to stop him, but this too proved unsuccessful.
Davison began heading towards the entry slip road back onto the Coast Road, and police rammed him again, forcing him up the embankment on the slip road. To the officer's astonishment, he continued driving, despite his vehicle sustaining severe damage. The pursuit finally came to an end when Davison crashed just beyond the slip road for Battle Hill, with the car ending up wedged over a crash barrier.
The chase had lasted six minutes, leaving the Audi with extensive front-end damage and its airbags deployed. Officers discovered an empty vodka bottle in the vehicle, and Davison appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There was a strong smell of alcohol on him, and he was grinding his teeth, had white residue around his lips and appeared to be experiencing hallucinations. He admitted to having taken cocaine.
Sentence and court remarks
During his police interview, he stated that he had intended to take his own life, as he believed he was about to be dismissed by his employer. He told officers he wanted them to assist him in ending 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 received a 14-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with 150 hours of unpaid work, an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement for 120 days and a 30-month driving ban.
Judge Penny Moreland said he had thwarted several attempts to prevent him from carrying out his threat to cause carnage through the standard of dangerous driving he displayed. The judge remarked that he had driven at "enormous speed", adding: "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, adding: "It was an awful incident of dangerous driving and he is lucky he didn't hurt somebody else or himself." The court was told he had been experiencing an "adjustment disorder" as a result of struggling to cope with pressures at work.
