A speeding motorist has been jailed after taking police on a 115mph chase on the A14 – before he was found hiding in a bush by a police dog.

Ipswich Star: Garry Edwards. Picture: Suffolk Constabulary.Garry Edwards. Picture: Suffolk Constabulary. (Image: Archant)

Police pursued Garry Edwards, formerly of Pine Drive, Ipswich, at high speed from Felixstowe to Ipswich but struggled to keep pace with his silver Mercedes Benz during the night-time chase.

Edwards, 44, was driving “extremely aggressively” on the A14 westbound and had to swerve to miss a police control car, damaging the central reservation, and later a lorry, Ipswich Crown Court was told yesterday.

He ditched his Mercedes at Homebase in Warren Heath and fled on foot, but was found by a police dog “crouching in a bush” with “blood on his face”, the court heard.

Sentencing Edwards, who was convicted for drink driving in 1996 and disqualified from driving in 2005 for excess alcohol, Recorder Christopher Makey said it was “fortunate” that no-one was injured.

He said: “Driving up to 115mph shows that, at the time of driving, you did not consider other motorists’ concerns. You had little interest in them. There could have been an accident – a fatal accident.

“You have an appalling record where your driving is concerned… it seems to me that the offence is so serious that it can only be dealt with by an immediate prison sentence.”

In mitigation, Stephen Dyble told the court that although the dangerous driving was “clearly disgraceful”, Edwards has shown “remorse” and is “willing to put his experiences to a positive use in the community”.

Edwards was first spotted by police speeding in a damaged Mercedes in Langer Road in Felixstowe. It later emerged that he had crashed into a Volkswagen Beetle in Langer Road. The Beetle, which was written off, then hit and damaged a Volkswagen Passat.

Edwards failed to stop and headed off towards the A14 where officers gave chase in the early hours of April 16, prosecutor Russell Butcher told the court.

Edwards came off the A14 at the Seven Hills junction and eventually hid in a bush near Homebase, but was arrested after being found by a police dog, which had picked up a “strong scent” of Edwards from his abandoned Mercedes.

Edwards was missing a shoe and a sock when arrested, the court was also told.

He was charged with dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and criminal damage. He pleaded guilty to all three charges at an earlier hearing.

He was given 12 months imprisonment for dangerous driving and four months, to run concurrently, for failing to provide a specimen.

Edwards was also given a six-month prison sentence, to run consecutively, for a separate ABH offence near Vodka Revolution in Ipswich on May 27. The court was told Edwards punched a man in the face he thought owed him money. The victim was taken to hospital with swelling and muscle damage to his left eye. Edwards also pleaded guilty to this offence.

It means Edwards, who has been in police custody since July, was given a total of 18 months in prison.