A THIEF who drove head-on at a police car at 50mph and topped 90mph during a high speed daytime chase through residential York has been jailed.

One of Anthony Vipas’ two passengers was also locked-up for his part in the journey from Boroughbridge Road, via Shipton Road to Holgate Road.

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But to the amazement of York’s top judge, the other passenger, who deliberately threw a bottle at a police car during the chase, was not charged.

Brooke Morrison, prosecuting, said shortly before the pursuit began, Vipas had stolen a child’s bike from a house where he had been a guest.

The Northern Echo: Driver Anthony Vipas, left, and passenger Daniel James Dexter Brown

He had bicycles with him in the car when he was eventually stopped when police rammed his vehicle.

Vipas had forced other cars to swerve to avoid him and driven on the wrong side of the road to overtake queuing traffic.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Vipas: “It was a most monstrous piece of driving. You are lucky you haven’t killed someone.”

Vipas had been driving at more than 90mph down Shipton Road and 50mph down 20mph residential roads where a child could easily have run out from behind a car and been hit, the court heard.

That would lead to “flowers tied to a lamp-post, hearts broken, all because someone like you couldn’t give a damn,” he told Vipas.

Vipas had also made a police car swerve by driving straight at it at 50mph.

The Northern Echo: Police in Holgate Road stop a car on Saturday

Of the unnamed passenger who threw the bottle, the judge said: “How in God’s name has he not been prosecuted because he was arrested, I understand.”

Vipas, 39, of Rose Street, off Haxby Road, York, pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent aggravated by dangerous driving, theft of car keys, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance and without a licence and theft of a bicycle.

He was jailed for 20 months at York Crown Court and banned from driving for two years and 10 months.

Ms Morrison said Vipas had been with Daniel James Dexter Brown at the home of Brown’s ex-partner on November 6.

After the woman refused Brown permission to use her car, the two took it while she dozed off. Vipas also took the bike of one of her children.

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Brown, 34, of a farm in Heslington, pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent aggravated by dangerous driving.

He was jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for two years and six months.

For Vipas, Neal Kutte said: “There is no clear explanation why he did this on this day.”

Both he and Charlotte Noddings for Brown described their clients’ actions as a “moment of stupidity” and said the defendants wanted to go straight on their release from prison.

 

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