Man who blamed grief over dead parrot for dangerous driving jailed

A dangerous driver mourning the death of his bird was left sick as a parrot after being jailed for four months. Father-of-eight John Williams crashed after a high-speed police car chase, then told officers he had only tried to flee because he was traumatised by his parrot’s demise. Williams, 33, went for a drive at 3.30am to calm down after the death of his feathered friend, but sped off when police tried to pull him over for a faulty light.

The two-mile chase through Portsmouth lasted four minutes and ended with Williams smashing into a fence. Christopher Wing, defending, told Portsmouth crown court: “That night his pet died and Mr Williams decided to go for a drive. When he was followed by a police car, he panicked.”



The court heard Williams had a long list of previous convictions, had been banned from driving nine times and at the time of the offence on January 17 was on bail for stealing from a car and going equipped for theft, for which he later received a 25-week prison sentence.

Williams, of Portsmouth, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was jailed for four months. Judge Ian Pearson said: “You put other road users at risk. It is fortunate the damage was to the vehicle and a building and nothing more. “You are a man with a very bad record of offending.” Williams was also banned from driving for another three years.