WATCH: Drug driver jailed following death-defying police chase around villages in Knaresborough and Harrogate

Philip Raine, 32, drove at “phenomenal” speeds of up to 83mph on narrow country lanes and bombed through residential areas in Knaresborough at up to 60mph while being pursued by cops, York Crown Court heard.

The 16-minute car chase finally came to an end as Raine drove back towards Knaresborough and crashed into a Seat car, injuring the male motorist and his son.

Dashcam footage of the white-knuckle chase showed Raine speeding through winding residential roads in a heavily-built-up part of Knaresborough after police switched on the blue lights.

Ellie Guildford, prosecuting, said Raine shot through red lights and went the wrong way around keep-left bollards, narrowly avoiding a bus, as the police sirens wailed behind him.

He then sped down narrow country roads through the villages of Scriven, Lingerfield and Scotton, at one stage with the speed dial at 72mph in a 40mph zone.

As Raine drove into Scotton, he sped past a road-closure sign and on his second lap around the village, his vehicle “squeezed over” onto a pavement as he narrowly avoided a collision with a white van.

He then sped back back towards Knaresborough where he crashed into the Seat, causing extensive damage to the vehicle and whiplash injuries to the driver and passenger.

Raine, of Manor Road, Knaresborough, was arrested and tested positive for cocaine during a roadside drug test.

He was taken into custody where a blood test revealed he was over the specified limit for cocaine, ketamine and Benzoylecgonine – a cocaine-breakdown product.

Ms Guildford said that Raine’s vehicle was a write-off but the damaged Seat was later repaired.

Raine was charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and three counts of drug-driving. He admitted all five offences and appeared for sentence today.

Ms Guildford said that Raine was “highly impaired” through drugs and made a series of “highly dangerous manoeuvres” during the police chase, which began at just before 5pm on February 3.

He had two previous convictions including for careless driving and possessing cannabis in August 2021.

His rap sheet also included cocaine possession.

Defence barrister Marte Alnaes said that Raine, a landscaper by trade, wanted to evade police because “he had drugs in his system” and conceded that it was an “appalling piece of dangerous driving”.

She said Raine needed professional help for mental-health issues and drug abuse following a “traumatic past”.

Judge Simon Hickey slammed Raine for driving at “phenomenal” speeds and putting “many people at risk on that February afternoon”.

He told the Knaresborough man: “Anybody could have stepped off the pavement and anybody could have walked out of their house or stepped out of a motor car and they would have suffered life-changing injuries, if not death.”

He said Raine had “risked the lives and limbs of others on these small country roads around villages.”

Raine was jailed for 12 months but will only serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was also banned from driving for two-and-a-half years.