Dangerous driver snared after eagle-eyed cops spot girlfriend's iPad screensaver

A dangerous driver was identified after police found a picture of him on his girlfriend’s iPad.

Brendon Walters had managed to shake off pursuing police in a high-speed chase through Bullwell, a suburb of Nottingham. A police check found a black Audi car belonging to Walters’ girlfriend but noted that a male was driving it. After the car slipped away from the police, cops went to the woman's property in the Nottinghamshire town of Hucknall.

An officer noticed the Audi was still warm, despite Walters’ girlfriend saying it had not been driven. An iPad inside the car had a photo of Walters as the background image. It comes after a woman was found dead on a bus with 26 iPhones glued to her body.

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Police went back to the address to look for him on January 13 last year, but he refused to come out. One officer went into the property through the front door and found Walters on the stairs. He barged the officer aside and fled.

Walters, who only had a provisional licence, has 20 previous convictions for 32 offences to his name. This includes taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, drugs, common assault and robbery according to Nottinghamshire Live.

Walters, 31, now of High Close, Kirkby, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and escaping from lawful custody. Handing him a 12-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, Judge Julie Warburton said: “You were driving your girlfriend’s car and you knew you should not have been driving as you were disqualified and only have a provisional licence.

“When the police tried to stop you, you sped off at speed, ran a red light and went on the wrong side of the road. They went to your girlfriend’s address and from an iPad which was left in the car you were identified.”

Anthony Cheung, prosecuting, said police spotted the Audi on April 11, 2023. He said a check revealed it was registered to the defendant’s partner but he was driving and so they indicated for it to pull over in Camberley Road, Snape Wood, by activating their blue lights.

The prosecutor said: “He drove off at speed and during the pursuit went on the wrong side of the road, ran a red light and went over the middle of a roundabout. The car then disappeared from view and so they went to her address and spoke to her. The bonnet was still hot and she said no-one had been driving it.

“But her iPad was inside the car and the defendant’s face was on it.” Mr Cheung said in January 2024, the police again went to the same address looking for him and he was upstairs and looked out of a window and refused to come down.

He said: “The officer tried the door which was open and attempted to arrest the defendant who pulled away and was shouting at the officer. He pushed the officer off, managed to push past him and ran out of the property.”

Dominic Shelley, mitigating, said his client was now working full time and has a family which is dependent on him. As part of the suspended sentence order, the judge handed the defendant 35 rehabilitation sessions and 100 hours unpaid work.

She also disqualified him from driving for 12 months.