By Ian Holmes

Man sentenced after crashing car during police chase near Nanaimo

Apr 3, 2019 | 4:15 PM

NANAIMO — A man with a drug addiction and a history of fleeing police was sentenced to five months jail after he crashed a car during a pursuit.

Dale Morgan McKinlay, 30, was sentenced this week after he pleaded guilty to three charges in relation to a brief police chase in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 2019 south of Nanaimo.

McKinlay will serve a further 40 days behind bars due to credit for time served.

During an agreed statement of facts, court was told a witness spotted a suspicious car in the South Wellington area on School House Rd. The licence plate was reported stolen and a police cruiser responded with its emergency lights on, court was told.

Crown prosecutor Basil McCormick said McKinlay shut off the vehicle’s lights and attempted to evade police heading southbound on School House Rd. But, the car crashed just before Morden Rd., resulting in the arrest of McKinlay and a passenger.

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McCormick said police couldn’t verify if the car was stolen.

“Most of this is the result of a drug addiction. He’s working on it, it’s just taking longer than he hoped,” McKinlay’s lawyer Bobby Movassaghi said.

McKinlay was also handed two years probation and a three-year driving ban.

Judge Brian Harvey warned McKinlay to get the help he needs or he could face stiffer jail sentences in the future.

McKinlay, who attended the sentencing hearing from jail via video, chose not to address court.

McKinlay was jailed for two months last May for resisting arrest and possessing stolen property in Nanaimo.

He was also sentenced to more than two months behind bars following a 2017 conviction for possessing stolen property.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes