Alexander Taylor jailed for A64 and east York police pursuit

Uninsured learner driver Alexander Taylor, 25, was riding at nearly three times the speed limit as he hurtled through east York early on a summer’s evening through streets busy with pedestrians and traffic, York Crown Court heard.

Mollie Briggs, prosecuting, said the pursuit had begun on the A64 eastbound carriageway when Taylor overtook an unmarked police car. His driving was so bad police put on their blue lights and siren to get him to stop.

Taylor, who had a passenger, responded by accelerating up to 125mph and rode at between 95mph and 110mph to Grimston Bar where he came off the Outer Ring Road and headed into York.

He was doing 79mph in the 30mph zone as he approached the Black Bull pub in Hull Road.

Alexander Taylor rode at 79 mph down this stretch of Hull Road (Image: Google Street View)

He went through several red lights including one when he was doing 56mph and drove on the wrong side of the road and traffic islands.

The pursuit ended when he went through bollards near Wigginton Road and escaped.

An hour later a member of the public spotted the black Kawasaki motorbike under blankets in Rowntree Avenue, Clifton, and alerted police who arrested Taylor nearby.

Judge Simon Hickey described Taylor’s speed as “phenomenal”.

“Only a custodial sentence can be justified for this,” he told Taylor. “You obviously are a risk (to the public) if you drive like this.”

He jailed Taylor for 10 months, banned him from driving any vehicle for three years and ordered that he pass an extended driving test before driving alone again.

Taylor, of Orchard Close, Appleton Roebuck, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance. He appeared in court on a bench warrant via a video link to Leeds Prison and pleaded guilty to two charges of failure to attend court in August and October.

He had a previous conviction for drug driving in 2018.

Taylor, who represented himself, said: “I have no defence. It was a terribly stupid decision to make, taking the bike out in the first place and even more stupid to flee from police.”

He had skipped bail because he had not wanted to go to jail and as a result would be serving longer than if he had answered his bail.

Ms Briggs said the pursuit was on June 6.

Taylor had gone through a red light at Grimston Bar interchange before heading down Hull Road towards the city centre travelling at 74mph in the 40mph zone.

Traffic had increased as he approached the Field Lane roundabout where he had forced other vehicles to brake abruptly.

Taylor said he was going to hand himself in when police saw him in Burton Stone Lane and arrested him.