A SUTTON Bridge man has been cleared of dangerous driving by a jury at Norwich Crown Court after a trial in which it was alleged he was the driver involved in a high-speed police chase.
Nathan Large, 29, denied being the driver of Land Rover Discovery in the early hours of Friday, April 8 last year.
The case hinged on whether Large was the driver of the 4x4 vehicle or not. The jury accepted he was not the driver and cleared.
The chase started in Lynn Road, Swaffham, before winding through narrow streets in Downham Market, past the town’s rail station, back out on to the A1122 towards Outwell and finishing on a side road off Hungate Road, Emneth.
The only passenger from the Land Rover who was detained, Paul Masterson, also from Sutton Bridge, took to the stand for questioning.
Masterson insisted that Large was the driver, despite initially not telling police “because he didn’t want to get anybody in trouble”.
Defence solicitor, Alan Compton, cross-examined had suggested that Masterson had set-up Large after they had argued about a girl, which was denied.
The jury were then shown a dramatic police video of the chase, which included the Land Rover trying to reverse into the chasing police car, but jack-knifing into the wall of a Downham Market side street because it was towing a trailer.
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