VIDEO: M6 Toll driver clocked doing almost 150mph during police pursuit
A DRIVER who tried to outrun police in a near 150mph chase along the M6 Toll has narrowly avoided jail.
Thomas Alsopp, of Hinckley, tried to outrun police on the toll motorway before crashing into exit barriers.
Birmingham Crown Court was told Alsopp reached speeds approaching 150mph on the motorway before sliding into payment booths as he tried exiting the motorway at the T3 toll station.
He later told police he only stopped because his Audi had run out of fuel.
Officers on street racing patrols on the A38 spotted Alsopp parked across an emergency vehicle access slip road to the motorway in December last year.
But when they approached his Audi A8 24-year-old Alsopp sped off and, after slaloming through traffic on the A38, hurtled through the villages of Minworth and Curdworth at more than double the speed limit.
Removal man Alsopp was clocked driving at 149mph on the M6 Toll shortly before his crash.
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Officers found he was driving on a provisional licence and had no insurance.
And when shown police dash-cam footage of the pursuit Alsopp boasted about his driving and the speeds he had reached.
He admitted dangerous driving, plus other motoring offences, and was given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid work, and banned from driving for 18 months.
West Midlands Police PC Jim Barry − working with the Central Motorway Police Group ( CMPG ) − said: “At one stage he overtook a recovery truck on a blind bridge entering Minworth village…his driving was extremely reckless and dangerous.
“Alsopp showed no remorse and said he had no intention of stopping for officers − only stopping because he ran out of fuel − and agreed he didn’t give his three passengers any opportunity to exit his vehicle.
“In addition to his sentence, he will also be required to take an extended driving test in order to obtain a licence.”
Alsopp has also been handed an order banning him from illegal street racing.
