Cocaine-fuelled driver jailed for high-speed chase through south Manchester

Emma Ramsden, 39, drove a stolen car on the wrong side of the road through Didsbury and Burnage while high on cocaine. She was jailed for 16 months at Manchester Crown Court.

Dashcam footage released after Bolton woman's drug-fuelled chase in Didsbury

Manchester Evening News reports that dashcam footage has been released by the Crown Prosecution Service showing a cocaine-fuelled driver narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a police motorcycle during a high-speed chase through south Manchester.

Emma Ramsden, 39, of Bury Road, Bolton, drove a stolen Nissan Qashqai on the wrong side of the road and mounted pavements on residential streets in Didsbury, Withington and Burnage. She was spotted by a patrol officer while attempting a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre that nearly struck an oncoming police motorbike.

The 42-second clip shows Ramsden overtaking a long line of stationary traffic before jumping a red light at a crossroads, again narrowly missing a high-speed collision. The chase lasted approximately 10 minutes before police deployed a stinger, causing Ramsden to lose control and crash into a tree.

Manchester Crown Court heard that Ramsden had purchased the Nissan Qashqai — stolen during a burglary five days earlier — intending to sleep in it. She was under the influence of cocaine at the time of the incident, which took place on 5 October.

Ramsden pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving whilst unfit through drugs, driving without insurance, handling stolen goods and driving without a licence. She was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for four years and eight months.

The court heard she has a long history of drug addiction and numerous previous convictions for driving offences, theft and dishonesty.

Rhia Abukhalil, defending, told the court that Ramsden had not used drugs since being taken into custody a month prior. "She has a long-standing addiction to drugs. She got herself into a good relationship and had contact with her children and abstained from drugs for five years," Ms Abukhalil said.

Sentencing, Judge Suzanne Goddard QC said: "This is a very sad example of how low becoming addicted to drugs can leave you."

Source: The Sun