9:48 am, November 28, 2022
A car salesman who tried to outrun police in a vehicle he took from work to ferry friends then claimed was stolen has evaded jail.
Christopher Parkhouse, 29, admitted perverting the course of justice and driving without due care and attention, after earlier misleading police for two weeks and denying he had driven the vehicle during the pursuit.
According to Devon Live, Parkhouse, a sales director at Axminster-based DC Select Cars, took the Audi A3 from the showroom on July 31, 2021 to ferry his friends from a pub in Seaton to a house party.
Six people including his girlfriend were in the car – so many, in fact, that one of them was in the boot.
After spotting a police car, Parkhouse speeded along a number of roads in built-up areas.
Police gave chase and said he was well in excess of the 30mph limit as he sought to get away.
Parkhouse abandoned the car in a cul-de-sac and fled from the scene, leaving his friends in the car.
They refused to reveal to police who was driving, but officers were able to identify where the A3 had come from after the car’s trade plates were left in the windows.
Police contacted the dealership and Parkhouse told them the Audi had been stolen from the forecourt the night before.
He also brazenly made a declaration supporting the investigation and saying that such thefts threatened his livelihood, adding: ‘East Devon should be a safe place to live where people shouldn’t fear having their cars stolen.’
He kept up the lie for two weeks and only admitted to being the driver after two of the friends were arrested and his girlfriend was about to be arrested as well, with one of the two who were held confirming that Parkhouse had been driving the A3.
Parkhouse must have known his friends would be arrested but he still misled police and signed a witness statement, prosecutor Brian Fitzherbert said.
William Parkhill, mitigating, told Exeter Crown Court the pretence hadn’t been kept up for long and Parkhouse had been punished enough by the loss of his good name and the stress he’d suffered.
Recorder Rhys Hadden handed Parkhouse, of Underleys, Beer, a 10-week prison sentence suspended for six months and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work plus 25 days of rehabilitation, as well as pay £1,000 costs.
Image: PA
