Man jailed after driving wrong way down major road

Tyler O'Keeffe led officers on a dangerous pursuit through Swindon

A man who "put numerous lives in danger" during a police chase has been jailed.

Tyler O'Keeffe led officers on a dangerous pursuit through Swindon where he performed a sudden U-turn, sped the wrong way down a dual carriageway and drove anti-clockwise on a roundabout.

He was jailed for 20 months at Swindon Crown Court on 3 October.

Roads Policing officer PC Tom Richardson said: "O'Keeffe's driving was some of the worst I have seen."

O'Keeffe's black Volkswagen Tiguan was first spotted on 12 June at about 13:20 BST on County Road. It had tinted windows and a parking ticket on the windscreen.

The court heard that when he was requested to stop, the 20-year-old - of Azalea Drive in Burbage, Leicestershire - initially pulled over.

He then accelerated away, performed a U-turn and drove the wrong way along dual carriageway Drakes Way. As the pursuit continued, he took a roundabout anti-clockwise at Greenbridge onto Dorcan Way.

On the A419, O'Keeffe travelled the wrong way down an exit slip road. The pursuit only came to an end when he collided with another vehicle and was subsequently boxed in.

'Massive risks'

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was jailed for 12 months plus a further eight months due to an activated suspended sentence.

O'Keeffe was also disqualified from driving for 27 months.

PC Richardson added: "He [O'Keeffe] took massive risks going the wrong way down dual carriageways and the wrong way on to the A419.

"He only thought about his own need to escape and not the danger he posed to the general public.

"He put numerous lives in danger, including his own, those of his passengers and the officers in pursuit of him."