Wrong Way McInulty Banned for 3 Years

Steven McInulty has been banned from driving for three years and given a suspended sentence of eight months after driving the wrong way on a duel carriageway in a police pursuit. The 25-year-old, from Coventry, was chased by police officers as he flew down Faraday Avenue in Warwickshire in his Citroen Saxo last June.

The incident was captured on camera by his friends, who were standing and cheering on the side of the road. It was later posted on YouTube, showing McInulty trying to evade the police cars by undertaking and driving over the central reservation to travel the wrong way into oncoming vehicles. When he came to a stop, he began to reverse down the wrong way and cross the central reservation again onto the correct side of the road while other motorists tried to avoid him.

Warwick Crown Court was told that officers decided it would be safer to allow McInulty to escape. Later, he was arrested after the footage was posted on YouTube. The scrap metal worker admitted to charges of dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving while disqualified. The judge heard that he has been convicted of several motoring charges in the past and was out on licence after being released from jail, where he served a robbery sentence. Following the stunt, his car was crushed by police.

Recorder Richard Atkins QC told McInulty that he drove shockingly when a police officer went after him. He caused evasive action to be taken by several vehicles as he drove the wrong way. Then he drove past his friends, who thought the incident was very funny and were stupid enough to film it. He is lucky that no one was killed or seriously hurt during his stunt.

The judge said that he and thousands of other people have viewed the footage of the incident online and warned McInulty against re-offending. He’s not going to forget what he saw in the YouTube video, nor will he forget that stretch of road or the defendant; and he believes the defendant will remember him. He then ordered McInulty to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, pay £1,800 in costs and to sit an extended test after his three-year driving ban is completed.

Warwickshire Police, however, aren’t happy with the sentence. Sergeant Roger Fildes says he’s very disappointed. He would have hoped the case resulted in a sentence that the local community and businesses would think more appropriate due to the dangerous manner in which McInulty was driving his car.

It’s extremely dangerous to drive a vehicle the wrong way down any road for the obvious reason that most of these stunt (intentional or not) result in a fatal head-on collision. In fact, earlier this month an inquest heard evidence on the death of a 66-year-old woman who was travelling down the M6 going the wrong way. She hit another car head-on, and the other driver, a 30-year-old female was killed as well.

Not all wrong way head-on collisions end with fatalities, however. Earlier this month, a 64-year-old male is lucky to be alive after he was hit by a male driver in his 30s on the A14. The grandfather, who suffered chest and abdominal injuries, was attempting to overtake a lorry at the time, and the 30-something-year-old, who was treated for an ankle injury, was travelling the wrong way.