Pedestrians dodge BMW driver who mounted kerb on Northampton's Gold Street during nightlife hours

A BMW driver thought the best way to escape the police was to mount the kerb on a busy Northampton nightlife street and force pedestrians out of his way.

Gabriel Kuti, formerly of Boughton Green Road, was tailed by an unmarked police car in February 2020 when officers noticed he was driving at "considerable speed" on Kingsthorpe Road.

But when the 21-year-old saw he was being told to pull over, he instead took an illegal left hand turn onto Gold Street.

And when Kuti found other vehicles were going too slow, he mounted the kerb and decided the members of the public on the busy Northampton town centre street would just have to get out the way of his BMW 118, the court was told.

Northampton Crown Court heard on Tuesday (May 18) how the 21-year-old boy racer tried this trick again by mounting the kerb and driving at pedestrians while travelling against traffic on the one-way George Row .

But this time, he hit a street sign and came to a stop. He tried to flee on foot but was caught by officers.

He later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

"He was plowing through the area where people in Northampton have fun on a Saturday night," said His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo in sentencing.

Addressing Kuti, the judge said: "This was a unpleasant and selfish move.

"You must have known that's where everyone goes out. That's where the bars are."

Judge Mayo gave the dangerous driver a suspended sentence of six months and banned him from driving until February next year.