A DISTRESSED motorist reported missing by his family drove away from police when they tried to speak with him near Penrith town centre.
Ryan Batey, 25, had been due to attend an unrelated court hearing on August 12 but left the building before it began. He was then “emotional and upset” with parents who were concerned for his welfare.
As Batey, of Hebden Avenue, Carlisle, left the house his relatives contacted police and he was recorded as a missing person. Two PCs on patrol in Penrith saw him driving from Kemplay Bank roundabout towards the town centre.
They activated lights and sirens and pulled up behind his Mercedes while it was in standstill traffic on Victoria Road. But as an officer approached Batey’s vehicle he drove away, moving around two stationary vehicles and mounting a pavement as he did so.
After police were later informed he had returned home he was interviewed, telling how he was “scared and panicking” at the time of the incident. Batey admitted careless driving when he appeared at Carlisle magistrates’ court having previously also pleaded guilty to failing to stop for a PC.
His solicitor, Mark Shepherd, spoke of him being “a man who was in considerable distress at that time”, and told the court: “It wasn’t a high-speed manoeuvre by any stretch of the imagination.”
District Judge Paul Conlon imposed a £160 fine and ordered that five penalty points should be added to Batey’s licence.
