Drug dealers jailed after undertaking M6 police car to dodge queue

A pair of feckless drug dealers have been jailed after undertaking a police car on the M6 while trying to dodge a traffic queue.

After a chase, the hapless pair were caught by officers – along with the £500,000 cocaine haul they had been transporting inside a rucksack, West Midlands Police said.

The undertake and the later police chase were all captured by the police car’s dash camera, with the patrol officer heard exclaiming “Really?”, as the pair’s £100,000 performance i8 BMW raced by stationary traffic.

The incident unfolded near junction seven of the M6, at Great Barr, West Midlands on November 5, last year.

Simon Pagett, 39, initially signalled to pull over on the hard shoulder, but then floored the accelerator, reaching speeds up to 100mph.

The driver then turned off onto the A34 main road towards Walsall hitting the central reservation, weaving in and out of cars and jumping red lights.

He went off-road near Springvale Avenue, where 40-year-old Dean Stone jumped from the still-moving car clutching the rucksack full of drugs.

Stone, of Burgh Way, Walsall, was arrested a short time later trying to get into a taxi, while the rucksack was found in bushes.

Meanwhile, Pagett – now alone – pulled over, even using his indicators to signal his intent.

During an examination, the bag was found to contain five 1kg slabs of high-purity cocaine with a street value of half a million pounds, police said.

The pair admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply while Pagett, of Dartford Road, Walsall, pleaded guilty to a separate charge of dangerous driving at Birmingham Crown Court on May 27.

Pagett was jailed for seven years and Stone six years.

Detective Constable Mandy Dorrington, said the pair’s belief they were “too important to waste time in a traffic queue” led directly to their downfall.

She added the men’s finances would now be forensically examined and any criminal assets identified as a result would be seized.