A MAN has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after a 15-mile police chase from Farnham to Bagshot.

Mohammed Mihah, 24, of Southern Road, Newham, was convicted last week, and handed a 12 month prison sentence and disqualified from driving for 18 months.

On August 2, 2018, police officers on patrol in an unmarked car in Farnham, acting on intelligence provided by the public, spotted and followed a grey Mercedes into a residential road. When the car stopped, one of the officers approached the driver of the Mercedes with a view to detaining him, at which point the Mercedes suddenly accelerated, pushing the police car out of the way before reverse ramming into it. This caused such significant damage that the police car was taken out of use.

The Mercedes drove off at speed but was soon spotted again by a traffic unit on the A3 northbound. A high speed pursuit ensued involving multiple police cars and the police helicopter tracking the car from the sky as it took an increasingly dangerous route from fast-moving roads into residential streets, and showed no signs of slowing. During the 20 minute chase members of the public and the pursuing police officers were put in danger multiple times.

The driver and passenger abandoned the Mercedes in Bagshot Station car park, but the police helicopter was able to quickly guide colleagues on the ground to where the suspects were and they were arrested just seconds after leaving the car.

Miah was charged with dangerous driving and pleaded guilty at Staines Magistrates Court on May 4, 2021.

The investigating officer, from the Western Proactive Team, who was one of the two officers who first identified the Mercedes and later investigated the case, said: "You can see from the footage just how dangerous Miah’s driving that night was. He drove the wrong way down a carriageway, along the motorway hard shoulder almost colliding with a broken down car, swerved across all four lanes of the M25 and reached 125 miles per hour at times.

"For him to be arrested before anyone sustained serious injuries or there was a serious collision is down to the skills of the pursuing officers and sheer luck. I am pleased that Miah has received this sentence as his reckless actions that night endangered many people"