Police footage shows Flintshire high speed car chase

On Friday the Leader reported how Joshua Jones, of Kelsterton Road in Connah's Quay, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence.

The 24-year-old had previously admitted one offence of dangerous driving, which was committed on January 6 between Penyffordd and Treuddyn.

He led officers on a high speed chase over almost ten miles.

At one stage he was doing 80 miles per hour in a residential 30 zone and he emerged from two junctions at excessive speed.

The chase only ended when he collided with a tree after taking a sharp bend - resulting in some injury to his passenger but mercifully no serious injuries.

Following the case, the Crown Prosecution Service released footage of the chase which was played to the court.

Arnold Woolley, coordinator for the Buckley Community Speedwatch Team, is a former Police Senior Superintendent, Force Training Commander and traffic specialist.

Police dashcam footage captured the chase (CPS) (Image: CPS)

He has spoken many times previously of his experiences in the aftermath of severe collisions and the impact these have on families.

After the sentencing of Joshua Jones, he said: "It is unbelievable and horrifying; episodes like this are not to be admired.

"They should raise a sense of horror in the minds of anyone who reads the details.

"You can only hope he learned from the experience and that the roads will be safer for that.

"When you're running at the speed [that the defendant was in this case] - 80 miles per hour - and you have another person coming the opposite way at, let's presume, 30 miles per hour.

"That's an impact speed of 110mph.

"That's a recipe for fatality. You'd be very lucky to walk away from it.

"Driving is a responsibility, not a joke. People need to remember that they are in charge of a lethal piece of machinery.

Cllr Arnold Woolley (Image: Archive)

"And the other thing is these rural roads tend to have animals on them; commercial and wild, and they don't have headlights.

"If he'd encountered any animals, again you've got the potential for loss of control and trouble.

"Perhaps it was fate that put a tree where he could encounter it without himself or anyone else being seriously injured."

At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, at Mold Crown Court, Recorder Wyn Lloyd-Jones told the defendant: "It's little short of a miracle that serious injury or death to someone didn't take place.

"I've seen the footage - there are times you leave that police car standing as you accelerate away.

"You took enormous risks."