Dramatic footage shows moment escaped prisoner flees police driving wrong way on motorway

Ella Wills4 January 2018

Dramatic CCTV footage has emerged of an escaped prisoner attempting to flee officers by driving the wrong way down a busy motorway.

Darryl Dempsey, from East Sussex, was wanted by police after running away from Ford prison in West Sussex on July 3 last year.

A video released by police showed the 22-year-old driving an Isuzu Trooper across fields, on footpaths and on the wrong way of the M3 in a bid for freedom on July 13.

After Dempsey failed to stop, officers brought the chase to a dramatic end by deliberately crashing into the vehicle.

He was jailed for two years at Southampton Crown Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, escaping from lawful custody, driving whilst disqualified and criminal damage

The escaped prisoner was stopped after he drove the wrong way down the M3
PA

A force spokesman said: "As footage from the National Police Air Service and one of the police cars shows, Dempsey did everything he could to avoid capture, driving across fields, driving on footpaths and even attempting to drive down the wrong way of the M3.

"Knowing just how dangerous driving this would be, one of the officers took decisive action and forced a collision with the vehicle, ending the 13 minute pursuit in Chilworth.

"Fortunately no one was seriously injured as a result of the incident."

As well as the prison sentence, Dempsey was disqualified from driving for five years and 24 weeks, with an extended test to be taken after that time, and was ordered to pay a £140 victim surcharge.

Chief Inspector Mark Lewis said: "Thanks to the bravery and courage of our highly-trained officers this pursuit ended without injury and with the man responsible detained.

"If Dempsey had not been stopped at that point, he would have got on to the M3, driving the wrong way, which would have been potentially fatal for him and any other innocent road users."

Dempsey had previously been serving a sentence for a number of offences including burglary and fraud.

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