September 29, 2021 1.15 pm This story is over 29 months old

Banned driver jailed after midnight police pursuit

The police pursuit lasted for 25 minutes

A banned driver went through red traffic lights and drove on the wrong side of the road during a 25 minute police pursuit, Lincoln Crown Court was told on Wednesday.

Stuart Scrivens attracted the attention of police while driving his transit van in Grantham Market Place just after midnight on May 8 but sped off when asked to pull over.

Hal Ewing, prosecuting, said Scrivens initially headed along the A607 towards Melton driving at double the 30mph speed limit.

During the pursuit which followed, Scrivens went through two red lights and twice went the wrong way around roundabouts.

He went back into Grantham town centre and after ignoring a red light at the junction of Albion Street and Belton Lane he continued past the hospital.

Scrivens went through Belton and then Barkston at 60mph before finally stopping.

Mr Ewing said that during the journey other vehicles had to swerve out of the way to avoid colliding with Scrivens’ van.

The court was told that at the time Scrivens had completed his most recent driving disqualification but the ban was still in place because he had not passed an extended retest which he was required to do before he could legally drive again.

Scrivens, 29, of Tamar Court, Grantham, admitted charges of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without a full licence and without insurance, and possession of a small amount of cannabis as a result of the incident on May 8 this year.

He was jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for two-and-a-half years.

Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told him: “Whilst nobody was injured, the consequences of your driving could have been horrific. Your driving presented a risk of danger to the public. The sentence has to be immediate custody.”

Tom Welshman, in mitigation, said Scrivens was sofa surfing at the time and was looking for somewhere to stay the night when police tried to stop him.

“He made a very poor decision to get into the van in the first place and another very poor decision to try to get away from the police. He simply didn’t think of the consequences of his actions.”

*Lincolnshire Police did not have an available photograph of Stuart Scrivens.