Action video: Police chase heroin car on to level crossing

A MAN took heroin at the wheel of his car while being chased by police before driving onto a railway track and abandoning the vehicle in the path of an oncoming train.

Gavin Steed, 41, of Sefton Street, Hull, drove his Ford Mondeo through residential areas in the city at more than twice the speed limit before driving on to the railway line where his car got stuck.

The two-coach passenger train, which was just half a mile away, stopped after a police helicopter pilot mounted a daring mission to alert the driver to the danger.

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Kathryn Chapman, a former Royal Navy pilot, took off from Humberside Airport to aid the pursuit after Steed had ignored warnings to stop and took the helicopter to top speed to fly ahead of the train.

She flashed warning lights at the driver before spinning the aircraft round so a colleague could give hand signals telling the train stop. It came to a halt about 400 yards from the car.

Sentencing Steed to 12 months in jail at Hull Crown Court yesterday, Judge James Sampson described his driving as “dreadful” and said it was lucky no-one was hurt.

The court heard the pursuit began in west Hull at 2pm on October 3 last year when Steed realised a police car was behind him and “panicked” because he had drugs in his car.

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The dramatic chase was recorded on film from one of two pursuing police cars, and Steed was seen throwing packages of heroin from the window as he drove at speeds of more than 60mph in 30mph zones, before driving on to the railway track at a level crossing near Hawthorn Avenue.

Jane Bryan, prosecuting, described Ms Chapman’s efforts to stop the train and told the court: “Thankfully, that interception was successful and the train was brought to a halt without any collision being caused.”

Miss Bryan said the incident caused 119 minutes of delays, involving 12 trains, and cost Network Rail £1,210 in compensation to train operators.

The court heard Steed, who admitted dangerous driving, possession of a class A drug and endangering the safety of rail passengers at an earlier hearing, had brown powder on his face and beard when he was arrested which was later found to be heroin.

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Traces of the drug were also found on the steering wheel and driver’s seat of the car.

Richard Thompson, for Steed, said he “admitted his driving left a lot to be desired”.

But he said the danger to train passengers was “theoretical” as the driver would not have been allowed to pass through the level crossing when it was not clear.

Mr Thompson also said the drugs had not slowed Steed’s reactions and described his behaviour behind the wheel as “positive” dangerous driving.

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“I accept the presence of drugs in his system could be viewed as an aggravating feature but I don’t necessarily concede it was part of his dangerous driving per se,” he added.

The court heard Steed, who lives with his mother, had committed 47 previous offences dating back to 1984, including a conviction for burglary in 2003 for which he was jailed for a year.

The judge told him: “You tried to evade the police. That resulted in a high-speed chase across parts of west Hull. The chase went on for some considerable time.

“You were driving at speeds in excess of 60mph in a 30mph zone. You drove on the wrong side of the road, you failed to stop at junctions, you threw drugs out of your car, you were driving through residential areas, through shopping areas.

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“You were oblivious to the obvious dangers. It’s fortunate and in fact surprising, given the dreadful nature of your driving, that no members of the public were in fact injured.

“Had you a few seconds earlier crossed that roundabout at the end of Hessle Road you would undoubtedly have crashed into a cyclist and a car and no doubt that cyclist would have been extremely badly injured given the speed and reckless nature of your driving.

“To cap it all, having tried to dispose of your heroin, you drove on to a railway line in a last-ditch, desperate attempt to evade the police. A train was approaching.”

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post after Steed’s arrest last October, Ms Chapman, who has also worked as a train driver, played down her role.

“I don’t see it as hair-raising – it is just part and parcel of what we get asked to do,” she said.