Two joyriders led police on a chase reaching speeds of up to 100mph while they smashed into terrified motorists' cars.

Kevin Horton was at the wheel and 16-year-old Thomas Beverage was his passenger when they raced away from cops in a stolen Audi during a 4.4 mile pursuit.

The now-27-year-old was pursued by traffic officers who observed him performing dangerous overtaking manoeuvres around the Formby Bypass as other motorists took evasive action, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

At 4.20pm, on June 6, 2017, a police constable spotted what he suspected was a car being driven on false registration plates in Netherton.

The cop pulled in behind the Audi and activated his emergency lights, but instead of stopping, Horton sped off down Swift Lane.


After racing through a series of residential streets, the driver headed along the A565, in the direction of Southport, and when travelling along Ince Road, collided with a car driven by Jodie Foy.

She suffered minor soft tissue injuries, prosecutor Kevin Slack said.

The Audi continued, reaching Ince Blundell Woods where it soon crashed into a second vehicle, driven by Philippa Preece, who also suffered minor injuries.

Horton and Beverage continued on the Formby Bypass as a police officer, concerned the vehicle could cross the central reservation, performed a manoeuvre to block off one of the escape routes.


The Audi "executed a sharp left hand turn, diverting onto Orrell Lane," Mr Slack said, but it was travelling too quickly and Horton lost control, smashing into a Vauxhall, driven by William Makin, with his wife Janet in the front passenger seat.

The husband recalled thinking, the court heard, "this is it," thinking he was going to die, Recorder Katherine Cornell was told.

He awoke with emergency workers around him.

The Formby bypass, on the joyriders' route
The Formby bypass, on the joyriders' route

Both the Audi and the Vauxhall ended up careering through a fence into the car park of the Red Squirrel Pub.

The three men in the car - Horton, Beverage and another, who was acquitted by a jury - fled the Audi and ran off across the fields.

Both tried to conceal themselves in the undergrowth, but they were caught by police.


Beverage tested positive for cannabis.

Mr Makin was not badly injured, but his wife Janet was seriously hurt.

She spent four days in Aintree Hospital having suffered major trauma, suffered a swelling on her adrenal gland, and was left with a permanent four inch scar on her arm.

Liverpool Crown Court where Horton and Beverage were sentenced
Liverpool Crown Court where Horton and Beverage were sentenced

Mrs Makin was left in "excruciating and constant" pain in her ribs, kidney, back and stomach for six months, needing to take painkillers every day.

Mr Makin sustained severe whiplash, tennis elbow, and woke up most nights "in agony," Mr Slack explained.

Both he and his wife also suffered mental trauma, it was heard, and the couple were thankful their small grandchildren were not with them in the car, as they usually would be for that journey.


"I feel lucky to be alive, we got away with it, that day," said Janet in her Victim Impact Statement.

The recovered Audi was being driven on false plates, police confirmed, and had been stolen from an address in the West Midlands, three months ago.

More reg plates were found in the boot, and a drill seized in the passenger footwell.

Horton, Mr Slack said, has a previous conviction for dangerous driving, in December 2016 when he drove dangerously in Liverpool city centre, while being pursued by police.

On that occasion, he ran off, but his DNA was found on the steering wheel.

He has convictions for handling stolen goods and supplying a Class B drug, while Beverage has previously been subject to a gang injunction.


Horton, his barrister Phil Astbury said, had written a letter to the court, in which he stated: "I'd like to say how sorry I am.

" was a stupid thing to do. I should have stopped. I panicked and thought it would mean I'd be returning to prison.

"I've left everybody down....I want to sort my life out."

He has a daughter, and has missed most of her life by being behind bars.

Horton, of Woodend Avenue, Crosby, admitted an offence of causing serious injury while driving dangerously and Beverage, of Great Mersey Street, Everton, pleaded guilty to being carried in a stolen vehicle.

Horton and Beverage were both jailed for three years, disqualified from driving for five years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £140.