Father of four jailed for reckless drink driving

A SPEEDING driver was almost twice the legal alcohol limit when he missed a young skateboarder by a matter of inches as he led police on a chase through the city.

Father of four Jatinder Singh, of Batsford Road, Coundon, went through a red light as he reached speeds of over 60mph on residential roads, and only stopped when a second police car blocked his way after the three mile pursuit.

The 43-year-old pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol and driving while he was disqualified for a previous drink-driving offence. He was jailed for six months and banned from driving for five years.

Judge Alan Parker told Singh: "I shudder to think what would have happened had he not taken the avoiding action that you demanded of him. He would probably have been killed and you would have been facing a sentence of eight or nine years."

The court heard officers in an unmarked police car began following Singh at around 4.40pm on Saturday, September 8 in Coundon Wedge Drive when he overtook them other cars on the off-side of the road.

They followed him as he went through a red light and at high speed along Jubilee Crescent, which was busy with people shopping and visiting the library and community centre, on his way to Yelverton Road in Foleshill.

It was on this road that he nearly ran down a young man in the road trying to pick up his skateboard as Singh approached him at about 40mph without braking. Moments later he was brought to a halt by another police car.

Singh, a manager at a Coventry dairy, had been disqualified for three years in December 2009 for his second drink-driving offence, the court heard.

Harpreet Singh Sandhu, defending, said Singh was separated from his wife and lived with his parents where he cooked and helped his mother care for his elderly father.

But the Judge rejected an appeal for a suspended sentence.

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