A CAR thief who drove the wrong way on York’s outer ring road at more than 100mph before causing an horrific head-on crash has been jailed for two years and nine months.

But York’s most senior judge has spoken out against the way the law stopped him locking up James Michael Ramsden for longer.

Ramsden, 25, was already banned from the roads when he put dozens of lives at risk, speeding through oncoming traffic on the A64 in a stolen car before seriously injuring another driver, York Crown Court heard.

Police said it was “a miracle” nobody was killed and said they were shocked by Ramsden’s lack of remorse.

But the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, was able to jail him for only a fraction of the time he could have got had someone died, saying his hands were “very much tied” by the law.

The law says that unless dangerous driving results in a death, the maximum sentence is two years. Ramsden was given a four-month reduction for pleading guilty, but was given additional sentences for other offences he committed as well as the dangerous driving.

In court, Judge Ashurst told Ramsden: “Someone guilty of driving, sometimes in a very much less dangerous way than you, who happens to be in an accident that kills someone, is at risk of a sentence of 14 years. In a case as bad as this, when someone could have been maimed for life, the maximum sentence is one of two years.”

He said the Recorders of Sheffield and Bradford had already spoken of the “severe restraints” imposed on judges in dangerous driving cases.

Dozens of motorists were put in danger and thousands delayed by Ramsden’s high-speed danger drive on July 19, which ended when he smashed head-on into a Toyota driven by Graham Bell of York.

One witness described the crash as “an explosion” and both cars were written off. Mr Bell was so badly injured that he spent 11 days in hospital, including a spell in the high-dependency unit. He has yet to return to work.

Ramsden, from Liversedge, near Bradford, had gone the wrong way through the one-way system at York Designer Outlet, before reaching 109mph as he drove west on the eastbound carriageway of the A64, in a stolen Vauxhall Insignia.

Police tracked him from the opposite carriageway, with blue lights flashing and sirens blaring. But Ramsden made V-signs at the officers, before smashing head-on into a Toyota driven by Graham Bell of York.

Judge Ashurst said Ramsden put “dozens of members of the public at enormous risk”.

But when Ramsden was told that an air ambulance was coming, he thought it was for him rather than Mr Bell. And when he was interviewed by police, he showed more interest in the CDs left in his car than Mr Bell’s injuries.

Judge Ashurst told Ramsden: “Your driving was quite ludicrous. At every turn you demonstrated yourself to be arrogant, selfish and irresponsible.”

He jailed Ramsden for a year and eight months for the dangerous driving, plus four months for driving while disqualified, and a further nine months for car theft. He also banned him from driving for seven years.

Ramsden pleaded guilty to car theft, dangerous driving and driving while banned and without insurance. He had finished a 16-week sentence passed in April for car crime.

Detective Constable Alan Williams, of York CID, said: “It was just a miracle no one died. The most shocking thing is his complete lack of remorse.”

Mr Galley said Ramsden stole the brand-new Insignia from an acquaintance’s West Yorkshire home on the night of July 18 and 19.

At 11am on July 19, North Yorkshire Police spotted him driving it on the A64 and shadowed him until he reached the dual carriageway stretch near Hopgrove roundabout.

They signalled him to stop, but he refused and fled through the traffic at up to 120 mph.

At the A19 junction, he drove at 50mph into York Designer Outlet and went anti-clockwise round the clockwise road system before going through the no-entry sign on the exit slip road from the eastbound A64 carriageway.

On the ring road, motorists dived out of his way as he touched 109 mph.

For Ramsden, Graham Parkin said his only mitigation was his guilty plea and said he had broken both his ankles in the crash. The judge said the evidence against him had been “overwhelming”, and praised the emergency services.

999 services praised

THE emergency services have been praised for the way they dealt with the dramatic chase and crash on the A64.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst said: “It is very much down to their skill that the physical injuries were kept in this case to the absolute minimum. I am very impressed, as I am sure the public will be, by the professionalism involved by those members of the services who were called on at short notice indeed to deal with the unexpected and unusual event.”

York Press: The Press - Comment

Give judges the power they need

INNOCENT motorist Graham Bell spent 11 days in hospital after a car thief driving a stolen Vauxhall Insignia at more than 100 mph the wrong way along the A64 ploughed into him head first.

A court heard that James Ramsden, who was already banned from driving, flashed V-signs at police cars tracking him on the other side of the road as he sped westwards along the eastbound carriageway.

One witness described the crash as like an ‘explosion’. Afterwards, police said Ramsden, 25, was more interested in the CDs left in his car than in the injuries suffered by Mr Bell. Officers said it was a ‘miracle’ nobody was killed.

Now, a top judge has criticised how the law prevented him giving Ramsden the sentence he felt he deserved.

The Recorder of York Judge Stephen Ashurst said his hands were “very much tied”. Ramsden had put “dozens of members of the public at enormous risk”, the judge said. But because nobody died, he could not sentence him to more than two years. Had someone died, Ramsden could have faced up to 14 years behind bars.

This law make no sense. It was pure luck no one was killed as a result of Ramsden’s reckless, arrogant driving. Some motorists who drive far less dangerously receive much longer sentences, because someone happened to die in the resulting crash.

This man is a menace. He cared nothing for the motorists whose lives he put at risk. The fact he had already been banned, and that he was driving a stolen car, were all aggravating factors. His dangerous and reckless driving surely deserves a much tougher sentence.

The law should be looked at again.