Dale Ratcliffe has been jailed for six months after turning Culcheth and surrounding roads into the setting for an eight-and-a-half-mile police pursuit. The 31-year-old was more than twice over the drink-drive limit, yet decided the sensible next step was to drive out and buy more alcohol. It was not, unsurprisingly, a decision that improved the evening.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday, July 23, that Ratcliffe, of Severn Road in Culcheth, had drunk four cans of San Miguel at a family party before getting behind the wheel of a silver Ford Mondeo. At around 10pm on Saturday, June 8, a police officer travelling along Warrington Road in Glazebury noticed the Mondeo bearing down on the police car.
Ratcliffe was driving so close and so quickly that the officer could not see the number plate. His full-beam headlights had already dazzled the officer, and he then overtook the police car on a bend at 60mph in a 30mph zone, narrowly avoiding a collision.
That triggered a pursuit through Shaw Street, Church Lane, Avon Road, Thames Road and Newchurch Lane. On Thames Road, Ratcliffe was recorded travelling at 60mph in a 20mph zone, which is less driving and more a reckless audition for a criminal damage claim.
He re-joined Warrington Road before heading back towards the village, then continued through Lansdowne and Glebeland, where he came close to hitting parked cars while swerving across the road. He carried on along Jackson Avenue and Wigshaw Lane before entering the car park at Culcheth Linear Park.
The chase ended when the Mondeo crashed into concrete kerb stones. Ratcliffe got out and hid in a bush, but police arrested him shortly afterwards. The hiding place may have been inventive, but it was never going to erase the evidence, the danger or the very long list of poor decisions.
The court heard that Ratcliffe panicked when he saw the police car because he knew he was over the limit. His defence barrister, Lloyd Morgan, said the incident began with a moment of panic but developed into an extended period of dangerous driving. He told the court that Ratcliffe had struggled with alcohol for several years after becoming overwhelmed by the responsibility of running his own business.
Ratcliffe formerly ran Grave Oak Bespoke Fencing, but the company was dissolved in May last year due to issues with alcoholism. Lloyd Morgan said Ratcliffe had worked for around 10 years before becoming self-employed in 2016, but accepted that alcohol was never an answer and had cost him his business.
This was not Ratcliffe's first serious encounter with the law. He was previously jailed for 32 months for robbery at the age of 18 after hijacking two cars and attempting to steal two more in 2007. Those attacks took place at traffic lights while he was armed with a baseball bat and a crowbar.
Ratcliffe admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop for a police officer and drink driving during an earlier hearing at Warrington Magistrates Court.
Sentencing him, Judge Stuart Driver said Ratcliffe had chosen to drive away from police and caused a dangerous pursuit involving persistent and extremely poor driving at high speed. He repeatedly drove on the wrong side of the road around bends without knowing what might be coming the other way.
The judge said it was pure good luck that nobody was seriously injured or killed. That assessment is difficult to argue with. Culcheth roads are used by residents, families, cyclists and pedestrians, not as a private racetrack for someone trying to outrun the consequences of drinking.
Judge Driver also acknowledged that Ratcliffe had attempted to rehabilitate himself and made genuine efforts to tackle his alcohol problem. However, he concluded that the seriousness of the offence meant immediate custody was necessary.
Ratcliffe will serve half of his six-month sentence before being released on licence. He was also banned from driving for two years and three months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.
The report was written by Adam Everett, chief reporter, and includes references to the Warrington Guardian, Liverpool Crown Court, Warrington Magistrates Court and The Herald.