AN unlicenced driver who had his mother in the front seat of his car hit speeds of up to 80 mph during a police chase before crashing into a wall.

Iulian Grosu also had other passengers inside the BMW he was driving - including his father – when he led officers around Ribbleton in a high-speed chase in August of 2019.

Preston Crown Court (Session’s House) heard how the 24-year-old caught the attention of police after his vehicle was flagged up on systems as being uninsured.

Celia Pritchard, Prosecuting said: “It was around 8.40pm officers were on duty in a marked car in full uniform close to the junction of Cromwell Road in Ribbleton.

“They saw a black BMW 3 series driving past them towards Preston. This drew their attention as it appeared to be uninsured.

“They requested it to stop but it didn’t and drove through the junction which was showing a red light. It did the same at the following junction, again through the red lights.

“It was driven on the wrong side of the road reaching speeds of 50-60mph. He continued driving on the wrong side of the road, eventually he reached a speed of approximately 80mph before he turned onto St Mary’s Road.”

It was at this point that Grosu smashed into a wall before recovering and continuing again. Soon after he stopped and cooperated with the police.

Ms Pritchard added: “He accepted the reason he hadn’t stopped was that he had a provisional licence and wasn’t insured.”

On all the roads the incident took place on, the speed limit was 30mph.

Judge Graham Knowles QC said: “This is a terrible dangerous piece of driving. You could have killed your mother, your father, and the other people in the car. People in other cars could have died if you had hit them. You put the police at risk. If there had been anyone crossing those roads, you could have killed them too.

“The driving we have seen on film calls for a prison sentence but your own personal circumstances, the fact you don’t have a criminal record, the fact you have worked, the positive things said in the pre-sentence report about you and the fact you now have an 11 month old daughter mean the sentence needs to be as short as possible.

“You should have been in court a very long time ago - this was the easiest case for the prosecution to deal with; you stopped the car and you surrendered.

“Had you gone to court when you should have done, you would have gone to prison. There isn’t even an explanation as to why this has taken 15 months to get you to this stage. In that time you have become a father and your life has moved on.

“I think it would be unjust to send you to prison – you should have had a punishment that followed on quickly from your crime and to send you to prison now would be unfair.”

Grosu was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 15. He was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and to pay £200 towards court costs.