Noah James Stewart, 24, pleads guilty to police pursuit on M1 driving in excess of 200km/h

A young man who led cops on a wild highway chase at speeds in excess of 200km/h while nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit, has been told he was lucky he didn’t kill anyone.

Noah James Stewart was nearly three times the legal limit when he was driving in excess of 200km/h on the M1.

A 24-year-old man who led police on a wild chase on the M1 travelling at speeds in excess of 200km/h while nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit, has been told he was lucky he didn’t kill anyone.

Noah James Stewart from Newcastle, was sentenced to a community corrections order in the Wyong Local Court on Wednesday last week for two years for his role in a high speed police chase on September 15 last year.

Stewart was driving on the M1 at Cowan just before 12.30am when he was clocked by police driving 196km/h.

According to police facts, officers followed the car between Mooney Mooney and Mount White for 30 seconds, and Stewart began to slow down, before it immediately accelerated reaching speeds of over 160km/h.

“Stewart continued to increase speed, fluctuating between 140 km/h and 215km/h,” police facts state.

“The accused used all three lanes. During the pursuit the accused overtook a number of vehicles in lane one that were travelling in lanes two and three.

“Stewart did so at an estimated speed of not less than 170/km/h and with police still in pursuit.”

Police continued to pursue Stewart who passed through the Mt White, Calga, Somersby, Ourimbah and Tuggerah exits driving at excessive speeds, while using all three lanes to overtake vehicles in his path.

Wyong local courthouse.

Just before 1am, Stewart exited Wyong and pulled into a parking space at Hungry Jacks.

Police removed Stewart from the car without incident, and arrested him.

He was then taken back to the police station and recorded a breath analysis of 0.144 just after 1.45am.

Magistrate Justin Peach said the pursuit lasted a “significant period of time”.

“You put a number of people at risk driving at the speed you were driving.

“You were driving at such an excessive speed all it would have taken is someone to change lanes in front of you and the likelihood is that you wouldn’t be standing here and neither would they.

“It is a rare day when someone stands in this court with a serious pursuit like yours and doesn’t go into full time custody is rare because of how serious it is”.

“It is nothing short of near miraculous that you did not cause significant injury or death”.

Stewart was disqualified from driving for 18 months. A conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Noah James Stewart, 24, pleads guilty to police pursuit on M1 driving in excess of 200km/h