Video
WHAT WAS HE THINKING?
Shocking moment boy racer led cops on 125mph car chase with his BABY DAUGHTER in the back seat
And he had ANOTHER five-year-old not belted in properly
COPS have released shocking video footage of a chase that saw a young driver reach over 125 mph when he had his BABY daughter and another young girl in the back of his car.
Kieran Hayward said he sped off from officers because he had no insurance - an offence that would have cost him £400 in fines and points on his licence.
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Instead the 19-year-old ended up with a six-month sentence in youth detention after leading police on a four-mile pursuit across Gloucester.
Unknown to the officers at the time, there was a young baby and a five-year-old girl in the back of the Volkswagen Golf he was driving.
Hayward, of Colebridge Avenue, Gloucester, was also banned from driving for over two years at Gloucester Crown Court last week after admitting dangerous driving and driving without insurance.
PC Mark Wiacek, who led the pursuit, said: "I first noticed the vehicle because it had a defective number plate. Me and my colleague tried to pull it over but he didn't stop. He sped off and things escalated from there.
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"He was weaving in and out of traffic, causing vehicles to take evasive action and at times driving in excess of 125 miles an hour.
"The footage shows a near miss on the dual carriageway where a van was pulling into lane one and the Golf had to take evasive action and undertake it on a layby. If the layby hadn't been there it could have been a very different story.
"Fortunately the vehicle was forced to come to a stop in a queue of traffic a short time later and we managed to safely extract the driver."
The cop added: "I was horrified to see children in the back of the car - the five-year-old wasn't even belted up appropriately. She was wearing an adult seat belt with no booster seat.
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"When a vehicle drives off at speed and you decide to pursue it you have to make a risk assessment based on what you suspect at that moment and the impact it may have on members of the public. There had been a number of high value car thefts at the time and I suspected the vehicle may have been stolen.
"The astonishing thing about this is that the driver decided to speed with two young children in the rear of his vehicle, a fact that was unknown to us until the conclusion of the pursuit.
"The risks this driver was willing to take simply because he had no insurance when it would have only cost him a few hundred pounds and six points on his licence shows his mentality at the time. Instead of just stopping and admitting the offence he decided to risk his safety and that of his children and has ended up with his liberty being taken away for six months as a result."
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Video of the chase was viewed in court last week before Hayward was sentenced.
The teen admitted driving dangerously and having no insurance earlier this year.
Prosecutor Susan Cavender said it was 5.10pm on April 8 that officers on motor patrol in Horton Road, Gloucester, signalled Hayward to stop but when he didn't the chase ensued at speeds up to 50mph.
The car was doing dangerous manoeuvres, crossing junctions and red lights. It reached the A40 from Longford to Elmbridge Court and the police car reached 125mph trying to catch up with it
The most dangerous manoevre, she said, was when Hayward tried to "undertake" a large van which was on the outside lane.
As he went past the van on its inside it began to move into the nearside lane - forcing him to drive onto a layby.
Mrs Cavender said if the layby had not been at that particular point on the road there could have been a fatal tragedy.
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"Perhaps most shocking of all in this case was in that in the back seat of the car were two children," she said. "A five year old who was not properly restrained in a suitable seat and a nine-week-old baby."
Hayward said he fled because he knew he had no insurance to drive the car, which was his girlfriend's.
Hashmet Singh, defending, said: "He is under no illusions about his position and the likely sentence that will follow. It is conceded the speeds were particularly high and there was a blatant disregard for the children in the car.
"This young man was brought up in a supportive and stable environment and he got a job in the NHS. "But he then became involved in drug taking, lost his job, sold his own possessions to pay for drugs.
"After this incident he took steps to deal with his drug dependency through Turning Point. He says that as a result he has been drug free for the last four months. He has held down a new job over that period."
Judge Michael Cullum told Hayward: "This could easily have had a tragic outcome for you, your baby, and anyone in your way."
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