Cocaine driver dragged from Fiesta by police after stinger bursts his tyres during 88mph Wakefield chase

The razor-sharp device burst all four tyres on Robert Cottam’s silver Ford Fiesta in the Middlestown area of Wakefield, forcing him to come to a stop. Dash-cam footage from the pursuing police car was played at Leeds Crown Court this week and then showed the 31-year-old being dragged from the car by officers.

Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said the police tried to pull him over late on the evening of May 24, last year, when they became suspicious because of the manner of his driving.

He then accelerated up to 60mph and turned onto Blacker Lane driving on the wrong side of the road on blind bends. When he reached Netherton he went the wrong way around a roundabout and ran red lights.

With the police helicopter joining the pursuit, he then reached 88mph on a 40mph-limit road before misjudging a bend and mounted a pavement, partially colliding with a parked Jaguar and a garden wall.

Cottam then almost hit a car head-on after taking a blind left-hand bend at 70mph, before the stinger was deployed. He was found to be over the limit for cocaine.

He was dealt with for the drug-driving offence at Leeds Magistrates’ Court in October, where he pleaded guilty and was banned from driving for 15 months.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court this week, Cottam, of Wharncliffe Road, Chapelthorpe, admitted dangerous driving.

Mitigating, Mohammed Rafiq said: “He is ashamed of his driving, he has not committed any further offences and is now drug-free. He is making good progress in changing his life.”

Judge Penelope Belcher told Cottam: “This was appalling driving that put other road users and yourself at risk. It’s sheer luck that nobody was hurt. Massive resources were used by the police to bring this pursuit to a halt.”

She handed him a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months and 150 hours of unpaid work. He was banned from driving for 12 months and told he must take an extended re-test to get his licence back.