Moment driver, 25, clocks over 100mph during late night police chase – before crashing his car in a village

• Lee Robert Maughan, 25, told officers that he’d had a ‘few pints’ before driving

This is the moment a driver reached 142mph on a dual carriageway as he tried to flee from police in a dramatic chase. 

Lee Robert Maughan, 25, fled at breakneck speed in a high speed pursuit last night, which ended when he crashed in the village of Temple Sowerby, before telling officers that he’d had a ‘few pints’ before getting behind the wheel. 

The dashcam footage from a police car shows Maughan, in his red Mercedes, making reckless turns in an apparent attempt to throw the police off his trail.

The dramatic pursuit continues down a dimly lit dual carriageway as Maughan continues speeding across road markings that say ‘slow’  with explicit markings urging drivers to drive at a maximum speed of 30mph. 

Maughan was ‘narrowly’ spared prison by a judge who said it was ‘remarkable’ nobody was injured or killed.

 A PC first saw Maughan travelling erratically on the Kemplay Bank roundabout just outside Penrith at 2am on 19th September last year.

The officer hit 120mph on a stretch of dual carriageway close to Brougham Castle as Maughan sped off.

He then accelerated to 138mph near Center Parcs and, on a later dual carriageway section, the speed increased to 142mph.

Carlisle Crown Court heard how the officer continued to give chase as Maughan left the A66 with a speed of over 100mph clocked after he entered 30mph Temple Sowerby.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke said of Maughan: ‘He reached the edge of the village where he lost control and crashed, causing damage to the road surface, street furniture and some private property. He remained in the car. He simply replied on arrest that he had been scared.’

Maughan provided a positive alcohol breath test in the aftermath, but was never charged with driving above the prescribed limit. Instead he admitted dangerous driving only and was sentenced at the crown court today..

Anthony Parkinson, defending, told the court Maughan was a hard-working man of previous good character who had admitted his guilt at the earliest opportunity. He held paid employment and also worked on his family’s farm.

The impact of an interim driving ban imposed by magistrates last month had already been significant, said the barrister.

The dashcam footage from a police car shows Maughan, in his red Mercedes, making reckless turns in an apparent attempt to throw the police off his trail

The dramatic pursuit continues down a dimly lit dual carriageway as Maughan continues speeding in a bid to flee from police

The officer accelerated to 138mph near Center Parcs and, on a later dual carriageway section, the speed increased to 142mph

Judge Nicholas Barker decided, ‘narrowly’ he said, to suspend a 12-month jail term for two years. Maughan, of Great Asby, near Appleby, must complete 180 hours’ unpaid work, a three-month electronically monitored night time curfew and pay a £2,500 fine.

‘This is an appalling example of dangerous driving. The speeds that you travelled at, on the roads that you travelled, were truly terrible and dangerous,’ said Judge Barker.

‘What is clear is that on that journey, at two o’clock in the morning, you had not the least concern for the safety of other road users. Your only concern was for you to try and avoid getting into trouble. That was selfish, self-centred and very dangerous.’

The judge added: ‘That no one was injured or killed — yourself or others — is remarkable.’

Maughan was banned from driving for 21 months and must take an extended driving test before his licence is returned.

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