VIDEO: Dinnington drug dealer leads police on 150mph chase with three-year-old girl in car

A South Yorkshire drug dealer who led police on a 150mph chase with a three-year-old girl in the back of his car has been jailed for two years and eight months.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jun 2016, 11:06 BST
Updated 13th Jun 2016, 11:18 BST
A car being driven on the A1M by Thomas Birkbeck, who has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Photo: North Yorkshire Police/PA WireA car being driven on the A1M by Thomas Birkbeck, who has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Photo: North Yorkshire Police/PA Wire
A car being driven on the A1M by Thomas Birkbeck, who has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Photo: North Yorkshire Police/PA Wire

Dashcam footage released by North Yorkshire police shows Thomas Birkbeck, 31, from Dinnington, weaving in and out of traffic and smashing through cones as his Audi A4 was chased up the A1(M) to Scotch Corner and then back down the opposite carriageway to Boston Spa.

The girl was described as ‘hysterical’ by officers who finally stopped Birkbeck after 40 miles. Helicopter footage of the pursuit shows how the car collided with several vehicles on the motorway as it swerved from lane to lane.

Thomas Birkbeck, who has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Photo: North Yorkshire Police/PA WireThomas Birkbeck, who has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Photo: North Yorkshire Police/PA Wire
Thomas Birkbeck, who has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after he admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Photo: North Yorkshire Police/PA Wire
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His car sped off from officers after it was first stopped near Catterick on May 17. A large amount of cannabis was found in the vehicle when it was stopped again after the high-speed pursuit.

Birkbeck admitted dangerous driving and other offences, including possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and was jailed at York Crown Court for two years and eight months.

Traffic Sergeant Julian Pearson described his shock after finding the girl in the Audi.

He said: “It was chilling, upsetting and ... just the sheer thought that had that vehicle crashed that child would have died.”