By Tony O’Reilly-
An employee of the Uk government from West Park in West Yorkshire, has been jailed for 14 months, after he tried to escape police at a set of red lights by the A6120 in Meanwood when they spotted his mobile phone was on his lap.
Reckless Hardeep Dogra, 49, an employee in various government agencies, denied being the driver of the vehicle, only choosing to plead guilty weeks before the trial when he realised the evidence against him was overwhelming.
He was jailed for 14 months for one count of dangerous driving and one count of perverting the course of justice at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday.
He is believed to have been using his mobile phone while driving, and was in fear of facing legal consequences for it.
Rhianydd Clement explained that police spotted Dogra parked with his lights on by the David Lloyd Leisure Centre in response to a collision that did not involve him.
Dogra then moved off and stopped at a red light, when he was approached by a police officer who informed him that the road was closed. The officer then noticed that Dogra had his phone on his lap and the screen was lit.
He was then asked to stop, but Dogra drove off at speed into oncoming traffic, dodging out of the way of cars as he did so.
Police identified Dogra’s vehicle and attended his property later the same morning, though he denied being the driver of the car and later argued that the car was parked at home at the time of the offence.
Mitigating for Dogra, Michael Walsh said that his client “panicked” in the moment and it “snowballed out of all proportion”. Mr Walsh added that Dogra had been made redundant, having previously held an “unblemished” career in the civil service and been of “impeccable character”.
Sentencing Dogra, Judge Thomas Bayliss KC said: “Given your previous history it’s difficult to understand what possessed you to behave as you did.
“It’s difficult to think of a more dangerous piece of driving and it was done to get away from the police. It put your passenger at risk and it put other road users at risk. Why you drove off in panic has never been explained but you knew perfectly well what you were doing when you denied being the driver.
“I have had to consider whether I can deal with this by way of anything other than a prison sentence and I regret to say that I can’t. In my judgement appropriate punishment can only be achieved by an immediate prison sentence.”
Dogra was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment and banned from driving for two years and seven months.