A man who led police on a death defying chase through the streets of Merthyr Tydfil has been jailed.
On 31st March, 2020, Leon Fear ignored a request to stop from a police officer who was carrying out checks on High Street in Dowlais.
The 23 year-old from Ferndale sped away but was followed by the officer who got back into his police car to catch up with the black Audi that Fear was driving.
Despite the police vehicle displaying blue lights and siren, Fear ignored the officer and continued on his reckless pursuit to get away.
He led police on a dangerous chase during which he drove the wrong side of roads, drove the wrong way around roundabouts, and sped through red lights, narrowly missing other vehicles.
He reached speeds of nearly 100 mph in 30 mph zones and at one stage reached speeds of more than 130 mph.
He also swerved across the carriageway to prevent the pursuing officer from catching up with him.
The pursuit lasted approximately 20 minutes, before the officer made the decision to stop following for safety reasons.
Another police officer who had joined in the search for the black Audi found it abandoned on waste ground off Club Street in Aberaman.
He saw a number of people running towards Blaengwawr Primary School and had information that they had entered the school grounds.
A search began which involved police dogs and the police helicopter.
Minutes later, the officer heard splashing coming from a waterway behind him – one of the men was Leon Fear.
Exhausted and soaking wet, fear was handcuffed and taken into custody where he was later charged with dangerous driving, driving without a license, and driving with no insurance.
He was a jailed for 14 months at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Tuesday (21 July). He will also serve a three-year driving ban upon his release.
Roads Policing Officer Pc Wayne Evans, said: “His actions that day were reckless on an unimaginable scale. It is miraculous that nobody was seriously hurt or killed – a vehicle driven that way is a lethal weapon. He played roulette with his own life, the lives of those in his car and so many other innocent road users, and I had no other option but to end the pursuit, because he would stop and nothing to get away. He deserves to be in prison and upon his release he won’t have the privilege of getting behind a wheel for a long time which is a very good thing.”
