Property maintenance manager Ibrahim Sharif, 24, was yesterday banned from the roads for three years for his latest motoring offence.
He claimed he was dashing home because his puppy had somehow got into the family summerhouse and was causing a panic.
However, he hit speeds over double the limit in residential south-west London and his rear passenger, a neighbour, had to be cut from the wreckage of his C-class two-door white Mercedes.
“I noticed I had a lot of missed calls and texts from my mum. My six-month old puppy had broken into the summerhouse and was causing a commotion,” Sharif told Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court.
“I take my puppy everywhere, even to my office when I am at work,” he added, conceding he did not take the pet out with him that night. “It was past their bedtime.”
Sharif, of Clarence Avenue, New Malden pleaded guilty to driving dangerously and possessing cocaine in Thetford Road, New Malden on September 25, last year.
He claimed he had forgotten about the cocaine, which had been in his wallet after his birthday a year or two previously, denying that was his motivation for fleeing police.
Judge Peter Lodder QC told Sharif: “At 2am police officers saw your white Mercedes driving at excess speed and unsurprisingly they chose to intervene.
“You noticed them and increased your speed, driving massively in excess of the speed limit and you crashed into a skip that moved fifteen feet, colliding with a parked Audi that was extensively damaged.
‘In your car was a young woman in the front and a male in the rear and the later had to be cut out of your vehicle by the fire brigade.
“It was pure chance that none of those people were injured or killed. You suffered a fractured wrist and told the officers you were really stupid. That is a gross understatement.
“Within that car was your wallet that had a wrap of cocaine in it and I do not accept the account you gave in your police interview that it had been to you a year or two before and you forgot all about it.
“I do not put this down to panic at the fate of your dog. You are highly-educated and intelligent, according to your references.
“I do not accept you had no idea that cocaine was in your car.
“I regard that explanation as nonsense. You were driving at excessive speed for whatever reason.
“You may well have panicked in part by your knowledge of possession of Class A drugs and your performance in the witness box only confirms that.
“I watched and listened to you very closely.”
Sharif, who has three previous speeding offences, was sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for two years and must obey a six-month electronically-tagged night time curfew between 7pm and 7am.
He must also complete 150 hours community service and was fined £750 for dangerous driving; £500 for possessing cocaine, plus £425 costs and must pass an extended driving test to regain his licence.
Sharif was driving home from a UCL student pub near Russell Square, Holborn, where he had “one weak gin and tonic” and played pool and ping pong.
“I panicked because I rely heavily on my car,” he told the court. “I do site visits and visit various properties and had extensive points and feared losing my licence.”
Sharif claimed the cocaine was given to him on either his 22nd or 23rd birthday. “I just stuffed it in my wallet to keep it out of sight. I should have thrown it away.
“I forgot it was there. I don’t know why I didn’t throw it away, it was really stupid.”
A clearly unimpressed Judge Lodder announced: “It is highly improbable he was given the cocaine at a party a year or two before. I can’t believe someone would carry around cocaine in their wallet for up to two years.
“One he was noticed by the police his driving worsened dramatically.
“He knew he had cocaine. Why other should he drive in that fashion that was even worse?
“I take a sceptical view. I am more inclined to take the view that what was in his wallet would cause him more trouble.”
Sharif’s lawyer Dominic Lewis told the court: “He behaved immaturely and recklessly that night, but he is capable of behaving like a responsible adult.
“Plainly he needs to learn how to drive responsibly.”
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