A crazed driver who sped through Manchester trying to chase down and ram a terrified motorist in the mistaken belief his ex-partner was in the car has been jailed.
Matthew Partington, 33, rammed his rival’s car at one point after driving the wrong way down a carriageway.
He then pushed the car backwards down one of Manchester’s busiest road at 40mph before it crashed into a roundabout.
Greater Manchester Police said the incident only ended when Partington realised that his ex-partner was not in the car. His vehicle was badly damaged so he just calmly called a taxi and left the scene.
Police said it was a ‘miracle’ that no-one was killed.
Detective Constable Barry Carmichael said: “Partington’s aggressive, violent and dangerous driving was like something out of a film and is one of the worst cases of dangerous driving I have ever seen.
“He left this man completely and utterly in fear for his life and forced the victim to drive at high speeds just to get away from him.
“People need to understand that when they get behind the wheel of a car they are driving a potential lethal weapon. Motorists need to pay careful attention to the road and other motorists to avoid a serious incident.
“But viewing Partington’s driving that day beggars belief.”
Partington is now starting a 12 month prison sentence after pleading guilty to dangerous driving at Manchester Crown Court.
But he will only be eligible for release subject to approval by the dangerous offender’s parole board in line with license conditions from a separate offence.
GMP said Partington’s dangerous and violent driving was fuelled by the mistaken belief that his ex-partner was in the car of a Jaguar being driven by the victim of the morning on Sunday 15, December 2013.
At about 5.15am that morning, the man picked up a friend from an address in south Manchester and drove towards the Kingsway area.
As he pulled up at a set of traffic lights he saw a Volvo pull up behind him and Partington got out and approached him on foot.
In fear, the man drove off heading towards Longsight but was pursued by Partington in his Volvo, forcing the victim to drive up to 60mph in a 30mph zone just to get away from Partington.
The chase continued along a number of roads until they got to the Mancunian Way, with Partington still pursuing the victim at speeds reaching 80mph despite the 50mph speed limit.
Eventually Partington drew side by side with the victim on Regent Road and Salford and the man slammed on his brakes allowing Partington to drive past.
But undeterred, Partington performed a U-turn in the road and sped back towards the victim, down the wrong side of the carriageway and narrowly avoiding other motorists.
Startled, the victim put in the car into reverse to try and escape but Partington rammed directly into his bonnet and continued to do so all the way down Regent Road, all the time with the victim’s car in reverse going up to 40mph.
Finally, the victim crashed into a traffic island on Ordsall Lane, which prompted Partington to deliberately smash into the passenger’s side of the Jaguar, pinning it against the island.
He managed to drive the damaged car away but shortly afterwards crashed into a taxi.
The victim got out of the car and fled across the carriageway before Partington could attack him further, but when Partington realised his ex-partner was not in the vehicle he calmly got into a taxi and fled the scene.
He was later arrested by police.
“Given the time of morning, it is a miracle no members of the public were killed such was the recklessness with which he pursued his victim,” Det Const Carmichael added.
“Fuelled by the mistaken belief his ex-partner was in the car, he showed absolutely no regard whatsoever for the safety of either the victim or members of the public and it is pure fluke that we are not talking about a fatality today.
“The fact Partington fled the scene having totally destroyed the victim’s car, and said absolutely nothing when interviewed by officers but sat in total silence shows he has zero remorse for his actions. It was not until the day of his trial that he finally admitted his guilt. That speaks volumes in itself.
“I hope today’s sentence sends out a powerful message to anyone who gets behind the wheel of a car and thinks they can drive in such a dangerous way and get away with it that they could be facing a long prison stretch.
“It only takes a split-second to seriously injure or kill someone when you drive in such a reckless way and in that split-second you could be robbing a family of a loved one so think twice.”
Story via Cavendish Press
Image courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with thanks.
