Shocking moment brazen driver speeds at 84mph in 30 zone and shoots through red lights in terrifying police chase

SHOCKING footage shows a brazen driver speeding through red lights at 85mph in a 30mph zone with cops in hot pursuit.

Kion Carter-Adams dodged police cars for over 30 miles between Kent and southeast London in a rush-hour pursuit.

Dashcam footage showed him careering down pedestrian roads and over zebra crossings at “dangerous” speeds.

Carter-Adams was undeterred by the blue lights and sirens of the chasing police vehicles and the eventual deployment of a stinger device.

The 20-year-old was so determined to evade capture that he continued driving even after one of his tyres became loose and “bounced” across the road.

Pedestrians also had to jump out of the way of the car before Carter-Adams drove into the rear of a police car – shunting it down the road “for some distance”.

The driver, of Leytonstone, East London, and his accomplice in the burglary later left the damaged car and were caught in the grounds of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, southeast London.

But despite later admitting dangerous driving, burglary, theft, driving without insurance and failing to stop, he has since been spared jail.

His accomplice, however – fellow 20-year-old Joel Adekunle – was locked up for over six years for his involvement in the burglary and car theft, as well as being involved in a conspiracy to burgle.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the pair broke into a family home in Snodland, Kent, shortly before 3am on August 27 last year.

The occupants, including two young children, woke to find their silver Mercedes missing from the driveway.

Having checked CCTV, they discovered that entry had been forced by “popping” a door and that the pair had taken the spare keys to the car along with £15 in cash.

After the theft was reported and the silver Mercedes circulated as “wanted”, police in an unmarked vehicle soon spotted it on the A2 London-bound carriageway shortly after 5am.

Prosecutor Edmund Blackman told the court the car was tailed past Bluewater and on to Bexleyheath where it began to repeatedly change lanes, undertake, and slot into tight gaps between vehicles – indicating the driver was aware of police behind him.

The Mercedes then continued towards the South Circular, “squeezing through” the traffic, tailgating other motorists and still weaving across lanes.

Mr Blackman said that even though the police vehicles had to speed up to 70mph in a 30mph zone just to keep visual contact, the stolen Mercedes was still pulling away and accelerating to speeds of over 85mph.

Footage of the chase shows the car weaving in and out of heavy morning traffic, undertaking vehicles, jumping red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Police ahead of the car deployed a stinger device but, having punctured the tyres, the getaway car simply “wobbled” and reduced its speed to about 50mph before pulling out onto a roundabout.

An attempt to block the car was made, but Carter-Adams forced other motorists to move out of his way so he could once again accelerate to over 85mph as he went over a zebra crossing, at which point the front nearside tyre “bounced off”, the court heard.

Speed bumps made the Mercedes slow for a second time and officers successfully boxed the car in – but not before Carter-Adams had driven into the back of one police vehicle.

“The defendant shunted it some distance down the road, despite the officer having his brakes on hard,” Mr Blackman said.

“Both occupants of the Mercedes then decamped but were caught nearby.

“A balaclava, gloves and a metal tool were found.”

In a victim impact statement, the Mercedes owner detailed how he and his family had been left feeling unsafe and “extra vigilant” in their home following the burglary.

He also described the effect on his five-year-old child, who had suffered from nightmares since and was scared to go to sleep or head downstairs alone.

The court also heard the Mercedes had been bought on finance and, although an insurance payout followed, there was a £5,000 shortfall.

At the time of the offences, Carter-Adams was on post-sentence supervision by the probation service after serving a five-month custodial term for supplying cannabis back in 2021.

Other previous convictions, dating back to when he was just 15, include charges of robbery, attempted robbery and possessing offensive weapons.

But his barrister told the court that after a three-year gap in his offending, he had committed the crimes last summer out of “desperation” for money.

Jessica Peck said Carter-Adams had a promising music career, having signed a record contract and provided songs and videos.

But she explained that when he was not paid, he struggled financially and became involved in the burglary.

‘APPALLING DRIVING’

Ms Peck urged the court to spare Carter-Adams custody in light of the current overcrowding in prisons and to give him the support to learn how to cope with his problems in an ‘adult-minded manner’.

Carter-Adams admitted charges of dangerous driving, burglary, theft, driving without insurance and failing to stop.

She said: “He is not a stupid young man, he has the ability to turn this around.

“Is it not more beneficial to work with a young man over the next two years, than for a young man to sit in custody where there are limited resources available to assist him?”

Sentencing Carter-Adams, who was supported in court by his girlfriend and described by his mum as “kind, caring and with a good heart”, Judge Robert Lazarus said he had no doubt the offences were committed in ‘full knowledge’ of what he was involved in and with the intention of financial gain.

“I have heard evidence of and seen a video of truly appalling driving,” he said. This was an extreme case of dangerous driving.

“It was a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and disregard the dangers to others.”

Judge Lazarus opted to suspend Carter-Adams’ jail term due to his guilty pleas, age and immaturity, as well as the amount of time he’d already served on remand and the fact he would soon be released.

Suspending a term of 19 months in a young offenders’ institution for two years, he told Cater-Adams: “The reality is that the term you would have left to serve would be very short indeed and frankly, in the context of this case and your obvious immaturity, a completely pointless waste of a scarce and expensive resource.

“I accept what has been said on your behalf that what you need is intensive work with the probation service and even with the opportunity for post-sentence supervision you would not get the time commitment from the probation service that you would do on a suspended sentence that is inevitably going to be longer.”

Carter-Adams must also undertake 250 hours of unpaid work, up to 35 rehabilitation activity requirements.

He has also been banned from the roads for 18 months and ordered to take an extended driving test to regain his licence.

Accomplice Adekunle, of South Woodford in East London, was jailed for six years and two months by the same judge in December for his involvement in the burglary and car theft, as well as an offence of conspiracy to burgle.

The sentencing was in relation to an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into an organised crime group committing break-ins at more than 60 houses.