A motorist has been jailed after driving the wrong way around a roundabout as he failed to stop for police on the M40. 

Officers received information from Warwickshire Police that a vehicle displaying false plates was heading towards the Thames Valley Police area on December 14 at around 4.40pm.

The vehicle in question was a blue BMW 120d, displaying incorrect registration marks, cloning the identity of another BMW 120d.

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John Maughan, aged 35, of Middle Ground, Wheatley, was driving this vehicle.

He was followed by officers on the M40, where he reached speeds of 80 to 85mph.

After junction 9 of the M40, Maughan accelerated to around 100mph, exiting at junction 8A where officers illuminated their lights requesting him to stop.

Maughan failed to do so, driving the wrong way around a roundabout and overtaking a vehicle on a solid white line, clipping it as he passed.

He was followed onto Middle Ground in Wheatley by the National Police Air Service, where Maughan was arrested.

Oxford Mail: John Maughan John Maughan (Image: Thames Valley Police)

He was charged the following day (December 15).

Maughan pleaded guilty to a count each of dangerous driving, failure to stop for police, fraudulent use of a registration mark and driving without insurance, in a hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on December 16.

Returning to the same court on Thursday (January 11), Maughan was sentenced to 26 weeks’ imprisonment.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years and will need to take an extended test after his disqualification to regain his licence.

Maughan was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £154.

Investigating officer PC Chris Guttridge of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “John Maughan showed a flagrant disregard for the law, driving a vehicle on cloned plates and then failing to stop for officers when instructed to do so.

“He drove at dangerously high speeds, ignoring double white solid lines and driving the wrong way around a roundabout.

“It is only a matter of fortune that nobody was injured as a result of his dangerous driving, and the courts have seen fit to give Maughan a custodial sentence for these offences.

“We will not tolerate behaviour such as this on our roads, and will robustly pursue and prosecute those who feel it’s acceptable to disregard the law.”