‘Drug courier’ handed jail term after admitting dangerous driving

A ‘drug courier’ who drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway to evade police officers has been sentenced to nine months in prison and banned from driving for a year.

Shortly before 4pm on Saturday, April 6 this year, Klajdi Tafa was driving on the southbound carriageway of the A43, near Towcester, when his Mercedes car activated the roadside ANPR cameras.

Officers from Northamptonshire Roads Policing Team patrolling the major route spotted Tafa and pulled in front of his Mercedes before displaying the ‘follow me’ sign in the rear window of their marked police car.

Instead of following their instructions, the 25-year-old pulled out from behind the police car and drove off. Despite officers activating blue lights and sirens, Tafa continued to accelerate, failing to stop.

Tafa’s driving became more dangerous and reckless as he drove at speeds of up to 120mph and went the wrong way round a roundabout before he joined the northbound carriageway of the A43, driving against the flow of traffic.

Due to the increasing risk to innocent road users, officers abandoned the pursuit but as Tafa continued to try to evade arrest, he crashed into the central reservation before fleeing from the car into nearby fields and through a river.

With support from the National Police Air Support Unit and the Force’s dog section, Tafa was tracked to the river near Silverstone village, where he was arrested, soaking wet, after being caught as he ran along hedgerows.

Following a search of the crashed Mercedes, officers found more than 60 immature cannabis plants in individual plant pots in the boot of the car. These were seized and Tafa was further arrested.

In his formal police interview, Tafa provided a brief prepared statement in which he admitted that he was “acting as a courier under direction” and was “scared of being arrested by the police for cannabis in the vehicle, which is why I panicked and drove dangerously.”

He also admitted that it “was stupid of me” and that was “really sorry for my action and wish to express my remorse.”

Tafa was charged with driving dangerously, driving otherwise in accordance with a licence, driving without third party insurance and possession with intent to supply a Class B drug – namely cannabis.

On Monday, April 6, at Northampton Magistrates’ Court he pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody until his sentencing hearing at the county’s crown court on Wednesday, July 17, when he was handed a nine-month jail term.

Tafa was also disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £187 surcharge. A forfeiture and destruction order was also made in relation to the cannabis plants seized from the Mercedes.

Arresting officer PC Charlie Brown of the Roads Policing Team said: “Klajdi Tafa, both selfishly and recklessly, put the lives of innocent road users at risk in a bid to save himself and protect the drugs he was transporting.

“Reducing the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads continues to be a priority for our team, and I am pleased that the courts have helped to remove another dangerous driver from our roads.”

Tragically in 2023, after being involved in a road collision in Northamptonshire, 29 people never returned home safely to their loved ones, and 271 required urgent medical assistance for serious and life-changing injuries