A woman who admitted taking police on a high-speed chase around the City of Hamilton because she was “scared” was banned from the roads yesterday.

Swati Jain, 27, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to dangerous driving.

The court heard that police were parked at the intersection of Court Street and Front Street when they saw Jain ride through a red light.

Officers activated their emergency lights and sirens and saw Jain pull over — but when police left their vehicle, she sped off in the opposite direction.

They followed Jain with their emergency signals on as she rode at dangerous speeds.

Officers saw her overtaking cars and riding through red lights, while pedestrians crossing the road took evasive action to avoid getting hit.

The court heard that Front Street was busy at the time with nightlife and that there was moderate vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Officers saw Jain speed along Pitts Bay Road and almost crash into a temporary traffic sign outside Waterloo House before coming to an abrupt stop.

When police arrested her, Jain said: “I’m sorry, I was scared.”

The incident happened on April 17.

Aqueelah Simmons, for the defence, said that her client had been on the island only for a few months before the incident took place and was unsure what would happen when stopped.

She added: “I don’t know many people who don’t get scared when they see a police car — myself included.”

Magistrate Craig Attridge described the incident as sounding like “something out of Grand Theft Auto”, comparing it to the action-video game franchise.

He fined Jain, from Pembroke, $1,200 and banned her from the roads for 18 months.

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