Police chase insomniac driver who thought he was in a computer game

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A man suffering from insomnia led police on a 40-mile chase thinking he was part of a computer game, starting in Manchester city centre and ending near Liverpool.

Bharat Keshwala, 48, of Rochdale Road, Harpurhey, set out in his dad's Mercedes in a ‘dream-like state’ after not sleeping for weeks.

Police spotted the car zig-zagging around Manchester city-centre at speeds up to 90mph as well as driving straight through red lights.

Officers pursued the car onto the M62, pulling him over 40 miles away at Copy Lane, Bootle, close to Liverpool.

Keshwala admitted dangerous driving at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to an 80 hour unpaid work order, with 12 months supervision.

The court heard that Keshwala was a recovering alcoholic who ‘had not slept for 30 days’ at the time of the offences.

Keshwala's lawyer used the defence that he was traumatised by a robbery at his family’s post office in Harpurhey.

He added that Keshwala was also still traumatised after his childhood experiences in Uganda, where Indian families were forced out of the country.

Tests have revealed that he was under the legal limit of alcohol and there were no drugs in his system at the time of the incident.

Brian Berlyne, prosecuting, told the court that around 4.20am on December 1 Keshwala was spotted on Newton Street in the city centre, but speeded away as soon as he saw the police officer nearby.

He narrowly missed hitting a minicab when he carried on at a red light and hit around 90mph on Oxford Street, meaning the police officer lost sight of him.

He was spotted again speeding down the M602, and was pursued along the M62 and M57 before pulling over at a junction.