Man jailed after driving wrong way around roundabout to evade police near Thame

A man has been given a jail sentence for his dangerous driving whilst attempting to avoid police near Thame.

John Maughan, 35, of Middle Ground, Wheatley, drove the wrong way around a roundabout to avoid arrest in Oxfordshire.

He admitted to one count each of dangerous driving, failure to stop for police, fraudulent use of a registration mark and driving without insurance, in a hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 16 December.

Last Thursday (11 January) he was handed a 26-week jail sentence at the same court. He was also disqualified from driving for two years and will have to pass an extended test to regain his full licence. Magistrates ordered the 35-year-old to pay a £154 surcharge.

At just after 4.40pm on 14 December 2023 Thames Valley Police officers were contacted by Warwickshire Police, the force advised that a vehicle displaying false licence plates was heading towards their policing area.

This vehicle was a blue BMW 120d, being driven by Maughan, it was displaying incorrect registration marks which were cloning the identity of another BMW 120d, Thames Valley Police has revealed.

He was pursued by the police down the M40, when he accelerated to to around 100mph, exiting at junction 8A where officers illuminated their lights requesting him to stop.

Not only did the Wheatley man fail to stop, but he drove the wrong way around a roundabout, overtaking a vehicle on a solid white line, clipping it as he passed.

Maughan was stopped by officers at Middle Ground, where the National Police Air Service intercepted him. Thames Valley Police formally charged Maughan one day later.

Investigating officer PC Chris Guttridge of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “John Maughan showed a flagrant disregard for the law, driving a vehicle on cloned plates and then failing to stop for officers when instructed to do so.

“He drove at dangerously high speeds, ignoring double white solid lines and driving the wrong way around a roundabout.

“It is only a matter of fortune that nobody was injured as a result of his dangerous driving, and the courts have seen fit to give Maughan a custodial sentence for these offences.

“We will not tolerate behaviour such as this on our roads, and will robustly pursue and prosecute those who feel it’s acceptable to disregard the law.”