Carlisle speeding motorist drove 'like a maniac'
A motorist "drove like a maniac" through Carlisle city centre while police gave chase, a court has heard.
Luke Whitfield hit 73mph in a 30mph zone, ran red lights, and overtook on a blind bend with oncoming traffic. A police officer said there were "several incidents during the pursuit that could have ended in fatality". The 20-year-old admitted dangerous driving and was sentenced to an eight-month term suspended for two years by a judge at Carlisle Crown Court. Whitfield, previously of Wigton Road, Carlisle, and now living and working as a chef in Scotland, was also ordered to complete 30 days' rehabilitation, serve a two-year driving ban and sit an extended re-test. 'Risk to others' The court was told Whitfield was driving a BMW with three passengers on the evening of 8 September. He had attempted to evade police as he wrongly thought he was not insured. Judge Andrew Jefferies QC said Whitfield had been "driving like a maniac". "Not only were you a risk to yourself, you were a risk to the passengers in your car; you were a risk to other road users and you were a risk to any pedestrians. "It is fluke - and fluke alone - that you are not sitting there facing something much more serious than the charge you are."