Blackburn teen avoids jail following 19 minute police chase

Hasnain Choudry, from Blackburn, said he panicked when police told him to pull over in Blackpool at around 2.30pm on April 1, as he had no insurance on his car and was already disqualified from driving.

Preston Crown Court heard Choudry, who had only just turned 19, had been in the seaside town visiting family when police noticed the lights on his car were taped up and the back windscreen wiper on his Audi was in a stuck position.

Beth Pilling, prosecuting, said: “The car was asked to pull over, which it did, but then when an officer got out to approach, it sped off onto the M55 and then the M6 south.

“What followed was a 19-minute chase where Choudry was seen swerving between lanes, overtaking and undertaking cars, causing the officer to back off and abandon the pursuit.

“A stinger was then deployed close to Brockholes which deflated two of the tyres on the car, but the defendant carried on driving at speed, with police describing how it squeezed between two vehicles at a set of traffic lights.

“The car then cut in front of a van which had to slam on its brakes, nearly crashing.

“The defendant then went through three red lights, across a roundabout and then travelled back towards Preston exceeding the speed limit of 40mph up Brockholes Brow.

“The car only came to a stop when it went through a red light and crashed with a Ford Fiesta.

“The defendant and the passenger both ran off but were detained a short time later, with Choudry saying the reason he didn’t stop was because he had no insurance.”

Choudry pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and driving while disqualified.

Offering mitigation, Mark Stuart asked for a suspended sentence and said the teenager was the sole carer and breadwinner for his family, after his father was murdered in 2019 due to a family feud, which also saw his brother lose an arm and his mother confined to a wheelchair.

He said: “He thought he’d bought insurance, but it turned out to have been purchased from an illegitimate company, and he was already disqualified from driving.

“He knew he shouldn’t have got behind the wheel of a car again, but he did.

“He lives with his mother and brother and his father was murdered in a dispute between two families and his brother lost an arm.”

Sentencing Choudry to 10 months in prison suspended for 18 months, Judge Stephen Davies said: “In interview you said you panicked, and apart from a driving disqualification you are someone of good character.”

Choudry must also complete 120 hours unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity days.

He was disqualified from driving for a further two years and must sit an extended retest if he wants to get back on the road.