Justin Swaby, 32, was spared prison after a judge heard he would not have embarked on his dangerous escapade if not for a 'relapse'
Justin Swaby
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A driver who rammed two police cars in a high-speed chase on the A19 has been spared prison.
Justin Swaby span out of control and rolled his car several times off the major road’s southbound lane.
He’d hit police vehicles which officers were using to try to box him in and slow him down.
One officer said he feared for his own life when the Citroen Xsara was driven into his car.
Swaby, 32, was not jailed after a judge heard he suffered from a bipolar relapse at the time.
Police spotted his car on Marsh House Avenue, Billingham, at 5.55pm on May 10 last year.
He ignored lights and sirens, performed a U-turn, took a sharp left to Seal Sands Road then on to the A19, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.
He accelerated to 70mph, swerving from lane to lane, then up to 85mph, said prosecutor Jenny Haigh.
Swaby struck one police car to his left, then another to his right.
Officers braked and manoeuvred to control their own cars after the collisions at 70 to 75mph.
Two officers in the chase suffered pain and stiffness to the neck, shoulders and back.
In police interview, Swaby said: “I’ve been in the game long enough to know when a police car is following me.
“I wanted to go home. I didn’t feel safe.”
He said he thought he didn’t have to stop for the police and was entitled to go home and answer questions there.
He added: “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was under a lot of stress.
“I couldn’t have been under more stress, short of someone putting a gun to my head.”
He also said “I might kill myself” and said he’d tried to commit suicide.
Swaby admitted dangerous driving, criminal damage and failing to stop. He said he acted recklessly but did not intend to damage property or endanger life. The Crown accepted this.
He had 40 previous offences including one for dangerous driving.
Carl Swift, defending, said most of the driving was not dangerous and was within the speed limit until he got to the A19.
Mr Swift said Swaby rammed one car then bounced off it and struck the other, and the damage to the police cars and injury to officers was “relatively superficial”.
He added: “Mr Swaby is a man who has profound lifelong mental health problems. He clearly wasn’t in a particularly healthy state of mind at the time of the offending.”
A psychiatrist said the incident would not have happened if it weren’t for a relapse of bipolar affective disorder and manic symptoms, including symptoms of psychosis.
Swaby is under a community treatment order and is supervised by a hospital, to which he can be recalled if he stops taking his medication.
Judge George Moorhouse told Swaby: “You started swerving from lane to lane. You were speeding at up to 85mph.
“You rammed two police vehicles. Eventually you crashed. That was a very, very serious offence.”
Swaby, of Bedford Street, Darlington, was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years with 18 months’ supervision and a two-year driving ban.
“Take your medication. Respond to the treatment that’s offered you. If you don’t, you’ll be back here and you know where you’ll be going,” the judge said.
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