`Lunatic` motorist tells court: Jail me for 91mph, you`re joking

A judge jailed a 27-year-old lingerie model for “lunatic” driving in a high-speed police pursuit – telling the stunned defendant he was “not bothered about her life” only concerned in preserving those of innocent officers.

Judge Sean Morris said Yasmin Katir, a mother with a two-year daughter, was “so lucky” not to be appearing at Teesside Crown Court on a manslaughter charge.

The court heard Katir `borrowed` a friend`s £9,5000 BMW car and hit speeds of 91mph in a 30mph zone as she led officers on a rampage round Thornaby, racing over roundabouts and a park before smashing into a house.

She admitted dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking in March.

But as Judge Morris sentenced her to four months in prison on Wednesday (May 10), she put her head in her hands and said: “I’m going to jail? Oh my God. You’re joking.”

Judge Morris told her: “Anyone who drives like a lunatic when there are blue lights behind must understand that they put life at risk.

“I’m not bothered about your life. I’m bothered about innocent lives and a policeman’s life.

“You are so lucky that you are not here on a manslaughter charge. You could so easily have been.

“The public need to know this. If people don’t stop when required to do so by police and choose to drive dangerously at speeds putting people at risk, then the courts will lock them up.”

Katir took her friend’s vehicle for two days after he invited her to his home for a social evening on March 26.

She said she was going to the shops to buy cigarettes, and took his car keys from near the front door.

She later claimed he gave her permission to take the car, but the owner said there was no such agreement.

He discovered the car was missing, tried to contact Katir to no avail and called police the next day.

The BMW was spotted and pursued by officers just after 3.45am on March 28.

Katir sped at more than double the 30mph limit, once reaching 91mph, in the chase around Thornaby captured on police in-car video footage.

She raced away from officers through a myriad of streets, drove on to a grassed area then crashed into a house – not damaging the walls but knocking possessions to the floor.

When caught, Katir, from Stockton, claimed she was egged on by a passenger and said she was “very sorry”.

She admitted dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and having no insurance, with one conviction for drink driving and no insurance in 2012.

Kate Dodds, defending, said: “She made an extremely foolish decision that night.

“She chose, with the encouragement of her passenger, to drive faster and faster in a way that was clearly extremely dangerous.

“The driving happily didn’t result in any serious injury to anyone… simply through good fortune.

“She was not under the influence of alcohol.”

She said Katir was the primary carer for her two-year-old child, had taken professional and medical support and was now “in a much more positive place”.

She argued a jail term would have far-reaching consequences for Katir and her family.

Judge Morris told Katir: “You took off and drove like a lunatic through extremely narrow streets.

“I’ve just watched a terrifying video where you are flying around corners at 50mph where you wouldn’t know what was coming the other way, going around small roundabouts at 60 and doing 79 in a 30mph zone.

“You then tried to get away by going over some park land and you smashed into a house.

“I’m reducing it because you are a mother, but that doesn’t give you a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

He jailed her for four months and banned her from driving for three years and two months.