Ex-policeman jailed for joyride death

Mon Oct 26 2009 19:30:55

A former policeman, who killed a grandmother during a 100mph plus "hair-raising joyride", has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Malcolm Searles, 24, who had left his police station to deliver an 18th birthday card to his sister, was in a marked patrol car with his blue lights flashing and siren sounding as he repeatedly broke the speed limit.

At one point his on-board computer recorded him doing 104mph in a 40mph limit area while treating his father and uncle to an illegal display of his high-speed driving skills.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard many of the roads he sped through were "densely populated" housing estates where children were playing football on the pavements and where double sided parking allowed only single file traffic.

Finally after a "prolonged course of dangerous driving lasting over an hour" and covering a total of 22 miles, he ploughed into 61-year-old pedestrian Sandra "Sandy" Simpson, a mother-of-three.

Later he tried to lie his way out of trouble, claiming he had been following a speeding car he believed had been stolen.

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