Sheffield man jailed for dangerous driving and lying to police about collision he caused

After having an argument with his wife, a Sheffield man embarked on a 'dangerous' high-speed police chase that only ended when he ploughed into another car, a court heard.
After having an argument with his wife, a Sheffield man embarked on a 'dangerous' high-speed police chase that only ended when he ploughed into another car, a court heard.After having an argument with his wife, a Sheffield man embarked on a 'dangerous' high-speed police chase that only ended when he ploughed into another car, a court heard.
After having an argument with his wife, a Sheffield man embarked on a 'dangerous' high-speed police chase that only ended when he ploughed into another car, a court heard.

Sheffield Crown Court was told how at around 11pm on December 4 last year, Colin Pilcher stormed out of his home in Queens Road, Beighton and into his Audi S-Line vehicle.

As Pilcher, 30, travelled towards Owlthorpe Greenway patrolling officers in a marked car noticed he was speeding and indicated that he should pull over

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Prosecuting, Neil Coxon, told the court that instead of stopping as requested Pilcher sped away, reaching speeds of between 60 and 70mph in a 30mph zone.

"The defendant's driving was described as being aggressive and led to him almost losing control.

"He was over-taking and under-taking," continued Mr Coxon.

The two-mile chase came to an end when Pilcher came round a junction too quickly, ended up on the wrong side of the road and careered into a red Vauxhall vehicle driven by Kevin Smith.

Mr Smith was left with a number of injuries including whiplash, bruising and several cuts to his body. Both cars were written off as a result of the collision.

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In a statement read out in court, Mr Smith explained how his wife, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was unable to leave the house for two weeks while they waited for a replacement for his specially-adapted vehicle to arrive.

He added that she now feared he would be injured every time he got into his car.

The day after the collision Pilcher phoned officers and told them that after driving to his friend's house and getting high on alcohol and drugs on December 4 his car had been stolen - but said he could not remember the events of that evening.

"The police weren't taken in by that and almost as soon as he signed the statement, he was arrested for perverting the course of justice," added Mr Coxon.

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Pilcher was later charged with one count of perverting the course of justice and one count of dangerous driving, both of which he admitted at an earlier hearing.

Defending, Francis Edusei, told the court: "This all started from the defendant having an unfortunate argument.

"This is a man who suffers from Aspergers syndrome, and he didn't react in the way you might expect a mature adult to. He saw the police and panicked."

Recorder Richard Woolfall sentenced him to 16-months in prison.