Jail for Dumfries man who stole car and sped through town while being chased by police

A man who stole a car and careered through Dumfries streets at dangerous speeds while being chased by police has been jailed.

Thirty-six-year-old Danny Bell was sentenced to 20 months in prison and banned from driving for three years when he appeared at the town’s sheriff court.

Bell, a disqualified driver, tried to evade arrest after breaking into a house in Queen Street, Dumfries and stealing car keys on August 25 this year.

He took the householder’s car from a neighbouring street and sped off while pursued by the police.

The court heard that he drove at “excessive speed” while weaving across the road and at one point drove in the wrong direction through a one way system.

When police cars attempted to bring the chase to an end, Bell reversed at speed and narrowly avoided crashing into one of them.

He also drove on the wrong side of the road into the face of oncoming traffic and overtook other vehicles when it was unsafe to so do.

In court, Bell, formerly of Brooke Street, Dumfries, now a prisoner at HMP Low Moss, pleaded guilty to four charges.

He admitted breaking into the house at Queen Street on August 25 and stealing the car keys.

And he pleaded guilty to stealing the car in neighbouring McLellan Street and driving it through various streets in the town and elsewhere in Dumfries and Galloway.

He also admitted driving the car dangerously at “excessive speed”, weaving across the carriageway, reversing at speed narrowly avoiding a collision with a marked police car and failing to stop when instructed by cops who were displaying emergency lights.

Bell further admitted that he then drove off at speed, again narrowly avoiding a collision with the police car, turned into Shakespeare Street and headed along it in contravention of the one way system into St Michael’s Street where he once more drove at excessive speed and onto the opposite carriageway then into Gillbrae Road overtaking vehicles when it was unsafe and into the face of oncoming traffic.

In addition he pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified.

Bell committed the offences while on bail which had been granted weeks earlier on July 7 at the Dumfries court on condition he remain in his home between 9pm and 7am each day.

He was told that he must sit an extended driving assessment before being permitted back on the road and that his prison sentence was back dated to August 26 this year.