VIDEO: 100mph crash caused by Rotherham police officer who said to colleagues: “Race you”

PC Daniel Guest, who is based at Rotherham’s Main Street police station, wrote off two police cars, damaged six other vehicles and injured three colleagues in the crash.

The Crown Prosecution Service has released dash-cam footage (below) from the cars driven by PC Guest and his colleague, showing the moments leading up to the incident and impact.

Leeds Crown Court heard PC Guest had tried to take a corner at almost 100mph while responding to a possible serious assault.

Guest (33) admitted careless driving at the hearing on Monday as an alternative to the more serious charge of dangerous driving and was given a £400 fine and five points on his licence.

He had been due to go on trial for dangerous driving but a guilty plea to the lesser charge was accepted by the CPS.

Daniel Guest pictured leaving Leeds Crown Court following his hearing on Monday

Prosecutor Ms Clare Walsh said Guest had reached speeds of between 94mph and 99mph on Shepcote Lane, Sheffield — a dual carriageway with a 40mph limit — shortly after leaving the nearby South Yorkshire Police custody suite at 10.30pm on November 2, 2017.

His colleague, who was driving a Peugeot to the same incident, was driving on the inside lane at around 70mph.

Guest lost control of the BMW 330 he was driving, which careered onto the other side of the road and crashed into a wall, said Ms Walsh.

The police vehicle was shunted back across the road, crashing into the Peugeot.

Six cars parked nearby were damaged by debris, and both police cars — worth around £20,000 each — were written off.

Ms Walsh said Guest, of Hesley Road, Harworth, Doncaster, and three officers had been injured but walked away from the crash.

Guest’s passenger hurt his knee and had to have his anterior cruciate ligament replaced in hospital, Ms Walsh said.

The two officers in the Peugeot were also taken to hospital and one of them suffered whiplash.

Ms Walsh said: “There’s evidence to suggest that when leaving the police station, the defendant made a comment along the lines of ‘race you’ to the officers in the other vehicle, which they didn’t respond or react to.

“In interview, he said he didn’t specifically recall it, but said it would have been a flippant comment about the performance of the response cars.”

Mitigating, Mr Mark Aldred said the 999 caller had said someone might have been murdered.

“It’s a high pressure situation and the public expect responders to react quickly,” he added.

It is understood the alleged assault turned out to be less serious than first thought.

Mr Aldred said expert analysis showed that Guest had tried to take a corner at a speed 17.5 per cent higher than the grip of his tyres would have allowed — which made it akin to a minor speeding offence.

Guest was still working as an officer — suspended from driving duties — and awaiting a disciplinary hearing at which he could be given a final written warning or dismissal, Mr Aldred added.

Judge Rodney Jameson QC said: “It was a particularly bad misjudgement and it had serious consequences.

“It caused a lot of damage and there were not insignificant injuries to a number of your colleagues.”