A Harrogate man has been jailed for a year and two months.
- Drove at 90mph in a 30-zone
- Drove the wrong way around the Empress roundabout
- and rammed a police car
Timmy James, 39, of Hawes Road, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving on 7 August 2025 at Harrogate Magistrates Court, where he was also handed a driving ban until his sentencing on Thursday 28 August 2025.
As well as jail time, James has been disqualified from driving for 31 months, and is required to take an extended driving test before he can get his licence back. James is also required to pay a surcharge of £187.
At approximately 9.25pm on Saturday 7 June 2025, James was travelling in front of a police car. Due to his manner of driving, an officer requested him to stop by illuminating the police vehicle’s lights and sirens, but the vehicle failed to stop, so a pursuit was authorised.
Despite initially driving within the speed limits and adhering to traffic regulations, when James joined the A59 Knaresborough Road in Harrogate, he increased his speed to 50mph within a 30mph limit road.
Alarmingly, James then proceeded to drive the wrong way around the Empress roundabout, causing other drivers to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
The erratic and dangerous driving by James continued with him getting up to an extremely dangerous 90mph in a 30mph area, driving heavily over speed bumps and going through three red traffic lights, one being Woodlands Crossroads, where again other drivers had to quickly react in order to prevent a collision.
The pursuit continued into a housing estate when James intentionally drove head on with the police car, causing over £5,000 worth of repairs required for the police car.
Investigating officer, Traffic Constable Gary Dukes, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said:
James’s shocking manner of driving was extremely dangerous, putting members of the public and himself at great risk of serious injury or worse. Thankfully there were no injuries, this incident could have very well had a devastating conclusion.
Today’s sentence sends a clear message that North Yorkshire Police and the criminal justice system will not tolerate such appalling, life-threatening driving and it is right that he has been taken off the roads.
Road safety is a priority for North Yorkshire Police and we’ll take robust action against anyone who puts the safety of members of the public at risk.
Anyone who thinks they can evade arrest by driving dangerously needs to think again.
We will use all our powers to remove them from the roads including the deployment of our highly skilled pursuit-trained officers.
