A "LUNATIC" dangerous driver who refused to stop for police during a car chase, after claiming he feared they were gangsters, was slammed by a judge.

The excuse used by Ali Alenazi, aged 24, of Hood Road, Newport, was “arrant nonsense” and he was wasting tax payers’ money, said Judge David Wynn Morgan.

He was on trial at Cardiff Crown Court for dangerous driving, but changed his plea to guilty at the start of his defence case.

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The jury had been told of how the defendant was instructed to pull over by two plain-clothed officers in an unmarked police car after “driving like a lunatic” on the M4 in Newport, when he undertook cars and made motorists brake sharply.

The officers drove up alongside Alenazi in slow-moving heavy Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic and told him to pull over after showing him their warrant cards.

Prosecutor Eugene Egan said the defendant left the motorway at junction 27 (High Cross), before losing his pursuers after a high speed chase through the city.

After his later arrest, Alenazi told officers during an interview: “I thought, ‘I’m going to get battered.’ I wanted to save my life. I thought they were gangsters.”

Mr Egan and the driver of the police car, Detective Constable Stephen Davies, read out the defendant’s police interview to the court.

The officer told Alenazi, when he was initially questioned by him: “You were driving like a lunatic in and out of traffic. You were flying in and out of traffic. I had to slam my brakes on.”

DC Davies added: “How many gangsters drive around in white shirts and ties, holding up a warrant card and telling you, ‘I’m the police’?

“This is nonsense that you thought you were going to be lynched.”

The defendant had claimed he had been sent menacing “horrible texts” by someone unknown to him, threatening him, before the incident.

When Alenazi was about to put forward a defence that he had acted "under duress" - something he had not mentioned in his defence statement - Judge Wynn Morgan asked the jury to leave the courtroom so he could speak to counsel.

He lambasted Alenazi through his barrister Paul Hewitt, asking him: “Does he think the members of the jury were born yesterday? This is arrant nonsense. When one thinks of the public money being spent on this case, it’s quite staggering.”

After consulting with Mr Hewitt, Alenazi admitted dangerous driving while at the wheel of a Seat Leon on September 21 2018.

Judge Wynn Morgan asked the jury to return a guilty verdict as a formality, and discharged them after thanking them for performing their public duty.

The court was told, following Alenazi’s conviction, that the defendant had several driving convictions, including driving whilst disqualified and drug driving.

Mr Hewitt said his client was a “well-educated man” and asked for sentence to be adjourned for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Sentencing was adjourned to February 21 and Alenazi was granted conditional bail.