Glamourous teenager, 19, who led unmarked police car on 88mph chase across town while under the influence of alcohol is spared jail after she blamed her dangerous driving on her 'state of mind'

A glamorous teenager who led unmarked police car on an 88mph car chase spanning five miles across a town centre while under the influence of alcohol has been spared jail after blaming her dangerous driving on her 'state of mind'.

Zuzanna Kozlowska, 19, jumped a red light, weaved between cars, sped over a humpback bridge at 68mph and took a bend at 82mph - unaware of the unmarked patrol car following her.

Kozlowska was eventually stopped after the officer who had been trailing her since she raced away from him at a set of traffic lights in Warrington, Cheshire, switched on his blue lights and told her to pull over. 

She passed a breath test despite admitting she was under the influence of alcohol.

Kozlowska from Little Stanney, Chester, faced up up six months jail under sentencing guidelines after she admitted dangerous driving but was spared jailed and given a suspended sentence at Warrington magistrates court after apologising for her conduct.

Representing herself Polish-born Kozlowska said: 'There is not really much to say except that I am really sorry. I was not in my right mind at all. I should never have gotten in the car at all when under the influence of alcohol. I know it's wrong. I was not in the right state of mind at the time.'

The incident occurred on October 19 last year when Kozlowska was seen driving her Seat Ibiza on A49 Winwick Road in Warrington erraticallty at 10.36pm after she drew up at a set of red traffic lights.

Miss Nicola Parr, prosecuting, said: 'The officer who was in pursuit of the defendant says that the Ibiza drove past him as he was driving an unmarked police vehicle so would not have known it was a police car.

'The defendant moved into lane one and undertook another vehicle in lane two before passing through a small gap and accelerating at high speed. The officer regained contact with the defendant on Mersey Street where it was held at a red traffic light.

'It accelerated onto the roundabout way too quickly and was then held at red lights at that junction. It moved off at the green light at Bridgefoot and immediately accelerated onto lane one, again undertaking lane two. It exceeded the speed limit while crossing the bridge at the roundabout. It was driving at more than 40mph in a 30mph zone.

'The next set of traffic lights at the bottom of Bridgefoot were amber and changed to red before the defendant got to the junction. She contravened the red light signal. She crossed into lane one. She entered the roundabout. She has gone around the roundabout at speed in the wrong lane, in what the officer described as a racing line around the bend.'

Miss Parr said that after exiting the roundabout, she drove at 51mph itowards a built-up residential area on the A5060, which has a 30mph limit with a cycle lane to the off-side, several side streets, a pedestrian crossing, and reduced visibility because of parked cars.

Miss Parr said continuing on Chester Road, passing Gainsborough Road, she approached a swing bridge driving in excess of the speed limit, which was now 40mph, and went on the wrong side of the road. It was only when she saw the headlights of an oncoming car that she 'swung back to where she should have been'.

Going further on A56 Chester Road, now a two-lane road, she got up to 60mph and then took a left-hand bend at 68 mph, before continuing at that speed while climbing up a hill to a bridge which the officer described as 'being blind' and which she crossed at 70 mph.

Miss Parr described her accelerating away from the officer, reaching a speed of 75 mph, and then after dropping her speed at another left-hand bend went up to 80mph before braking.

She then went on to take another left-hand bend at 82 mph, where the road was dark with no street lighting. As she came up to a T-junction on the A56 in Daresbury, she reached a speed of 88 mph in a 50mph zone.

'The officer signalled for the driver to stop and he asked for a roadside breath sample. She blew 31 micrograms of alcohol which is below the legal limit of 35mg. This was a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and disregard the risk of danger to others. It was a prolonged, persistent and deliberate course of dangerous driving.

'The speed was significantly in excess of the speed limit or highly inappropriate for the prevailing road or weather conditions. But it should also be said the officer following did not activate his emergency lighting until the end of his pursuit and the defendant stopped when requested to.'

Kozlowska was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, the maximum a court can impose plus 20 rehabilitation activity days. She as also banned from driving for two years and will have to take an extended driving test before she gets her licence back. She was also ordered to pay £274 in costs and victim surcharge.

JP Peter Hunt told her: 'You are one step away from a custodial sentence. You must be on your best behaviour from now on. Certainly, that includes not touching a motor vehicle.'