Dingwall father of two drove at 120mph while banned in police chase

A disqualified Dingwall driver who drove at speeds of up to 120mph to escape the police, and forced other road users to take evasive action to avoid colliding with him, has been jailed for a year.

Adrian Ratajewski of Achany Court, Dingwall was also banned from driving for six and a half years, and was told that he must sit the extended test of driving competency before he gets behind the wheel again. He was disqualified from driving and not insured to drive at the time of the incident.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that the 35-year-old father of two had been banned from driving on November 1, 2022 for a year but at 2.15pm on August 16, 2023 police on routine patrol in an unmarked car saw him in a VW Passat driving in Dingwall.

Fiscal depute Sophie Marshall said: "On seeing the unmarked police car which he recognised, he made off driving at speeds of up to 70mph through Dingwall and on to Strathpeffer Road.

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"He made several dangerous overtakes and travelled at speeds of over 120mph. In a 20mph speed limit, he was driving at 90mph. Because of the increasing danger, police decided to abandon the pursuit."

Ratajewski appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court last month to admit dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving without a licence or insurance.

On the afternoon of March 12 this year, Ratajewski was seen driving an Audi from Tesco's and police quickly established by a computer check that he was a disqualified driver. Sheriff Gary Aitken heard Ratajewski again sped off and was later traced and arrested. He pleaded guilty to further charges of driving while banned and without insurance.

Defending, Samantha Morrison told the court: "He is currently on a community payback order for analogous matters."

Sheriff Aitken noted: "You have an appalling driving record including previous convictions for driving while disqualified. Your attitude towards road traffic legislation is truly appalling. It is one of the worst pieces of dangerous driving I have seen on such a summary complaint in a long time. To make it worse, you were on bail at the time."