POLICE gave up chasing a man speeding in a BMW 30 seconds before he fatally collided with a pedestrian because the driver was going so fast a pursuit would have been ‘unsafe’, a court has heard.

Aaron Clare was today jailed for 8 years after he veered off the Bath Road in Southcote at 87mph and killed 41-year-old Kevin Burgess.

The 33-year-old was banned from driving and high on cocaine and xanax at the time of the incident in the early hours of May 23, 2020.

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His speech was slurred when questioned by police immediately afterwards and in an interview at hospital, Clare told police: “I ran some matey over.”

At his sentencing, Reading Crown Court heard how Clare was pursued by police for less than a minute after members of the public saw his damaged BMW speeding and mounting the kerb.

But officers felt unsafe and called off the pursuit as they felt “unsafe” after Clare sped up to a very high speed, prosecutor Lisa Goddard said.

35 seconds and 500 metres later, Clare had left the carriageway, collided into roadside signs and hit pedestrian Kevin Burgess.

An investigation showed Clare reached speeds of 87mph on the 30mph road before crashing and police found the car extensively damaged with windows smashed, airbags deployed and the bonnet smoking when they reached the crash scene.

Mr Burgess suffered internal injuries and died less than two hours later at 6.56am.

Prosecuting, Lisa Goddard said investigators concluded there was ‘nothing’ the deceased could have done to avoid the oncoming vehicle.

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Tragically, Mr Burgess had crossed the road just moments before he was hit by Clare.

Clare initially denied being the driver of the BMW despite telling police he ‘ran some matey over’ in an interview immediately after the incident, triggering seven months of police investigation.

Defending, Gavin Holme said Clare denied being behind the wheel as he ‘panicked’.

He finally formally admitted his guilt at a hearing at a Crown Court hearing on October 25.

Mr Holme claimed Clare used cocaine and xanax to self-medicate in the wake of his uncle’s terminal diagnosis.

Clare has 22 previous convictions for 34 offences including a dangerous driving conviction similar to the conviction for dangerous driving in which he killed Mr Burgess.

The court heard how Clare was stopped by police in Reading prior to the Bath Road incident at 1.40am when he was spotted driving 70mph in a 30mph area.

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He had also served prison time for a 2019 offence in which he punched a man in the face outside a Maidenhead nightclub.

Clare was out on licence for this offence at the time of the incident which killed Mr Burgess.

Mr Holme said his client wanted to ‘engage’ with his offending and to ‘try and work out why it occurs.’

Sentencing, Her Honour Judge Campbell told Clare he was driving his BMW in an “appallingly dangerous manner” on the day of the crash.

She chastised him for his failure to admit to driving the vehicle and told the court he could have saved Kevin Burgess’s family the “pain” they had suffered if he had pleaded guilty to his offence at an earlier opportunity.

However, she conceded that Clare was “remorseful” after reading a letter he had written to her.

Clare was sentenced to eight years behind bars for causing death by dangerous driving.

The 33-year-old was also banned from driving for ten years and will have to undergo an extended re-test before being allowed behind the wheel again. 

He was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Friday, November 12.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Darren Brown, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Clare’s actions in driving were incredibly reckless. He was unlicensed, uninsured and had taken drugs.

“He was pursued by police officers who noticed his erratic driving, but his driving was so dangerous that the officers were forced to cancel the pursuit.

“Tragically, he then went on to cause the death of Kevin Burgess. He took the decision to drive and to put innocent people in extreme danger, and as such he will now be spending a significant amount of time in prison.

“I hope that this needless tragedy serves as a warning to other road users of the consequences of dangerous driving, and I hope that today’s sentence helps Kevin’s family in some way to begin the process of moving on with their lives.”