A businessman who took police on a car chase claimed he told a chauffeur to keep driving because he was having sex with a woman who was not his wife.

Maurice 'Fred' Sines took officers on a chase in his £405,000 Rolls Royce Phantom but said he was with "a bird in the back having a suck", a court has heard.

Sines, who owns a string of lucrative caravan parks, said he didn't want to be caught because he had recently gotten back together with his wife.

But when his case came to trial, he was shown CCTV of him getting into the car and he admitted to driving while disqualified.

At a sentencing today, Judge Robert Fraser told Guildford Crown Court that he had given "what was clearly and utterly a false account."


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The chase – which started at the PGA golf tournament in Virginia Water, Surrey in May 2018 and carried on through the nearby Wentworth Estate – saw the car hit speeds of 60mph in a 30mph area.

Sines also drove down the wrong side of a road and roundabout, and narrowly dodged a head-on crash.

His car was found abandoned nearby shortly after the pursuit came to an end due to problems with police radio.

When officers finally caught up with him, he admitted to being in the car, but said he was being driven by a chauffeur who he had ordered not to stop.

Guildford Crown Court heard there had been complaints about his behaviour earlier in the day and that police had arrived at the tournament to see him leaving.

"He was estranged from his wife for a number of years and had been back with her for about a week," Daniel Sawyer, prosecuting, said.

"He said that he had 'a bird in the back having a suck' and told his driver not to stop because he did not want to be caught in that situation."

Sines – who is classed by the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau as being "linked to a larger organised crime network" – admitted to a charge of dangerous driving.

The 57-year-old has now been handed an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also slapped with a two-year driving ban and a three-month tagged curfew, and was ordered to pay a £5,000 penalty and £4,200 in court costs.


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Judge Robert Fraser said: "You have been remarkably foolish for somebody of your years in life and experiences in life to have done what you did – that is an act of extreme foolhardiness and danger to other road users.

"The police were alerted, they went to the golf club and there followed the police operation, tracking your car's movements.

"You went back to your house, you were driving back into you driveway, and spotted the police car and, of course, disappeared off at speed.

"You then abandoned the vehicle and arrange for yourself to be collected by members of your family.

"You were denying you were driving and put forward what was clearly and utterly a false account.

"Obviously, you did plead guilty at an extremely late stage when you had seen that further CCTV which made it perfectly clear to everyone else what you were saying about the identity of a driver was a lie."

The court was told Sines would be severely affected by the sentence as he manages and supervises various caravan sites in the home counties.

He also helps to care for his grandson, who currently needs to be fed through a tube following a colitis operation.

Judge Fraser continued: "Obviously your grandson, in particular, is a great difficulty to your whole family because of his health problems.

"I take into account your health and read the many number of letters from organisations and charities as to your generosity.

"One of the two key aggravating factors is the fact that you drove off at speed for an obvious reason – you didn't want to be caught.

"Clearly this passes the custody threshold, I cannot avoid that. Because of your approach to this, because of your motive, this has gone on for a very long time thereafter because of the false story you put in place.

"There are many factors which could cause me to think very carefully about suspending the sentence.

"I am persuaded to do so for a number of reasons. You have been forced to accept and show remorse."

Stephen Pownall, mitigating, told the court: "The greatest punishment form is going to be his inability to drive car for a significant period of time.

"He is a self-made man. He has as you have seen provided significant sums to charities and given of his time and his resources.

"He travels 2,000 miles a week because the sites that he and others own which he supervises are in the home counties and he had to visit them and any days he is unable to do are going to have an effect on the success of his business because other can't take the important decisions and supervise as he alone can."

Sines confirmed he no longer lived in his mansion estate, which was previously home to Sir Bruce Forsyth, Sir Elton John, Sir Cliff Richard, golfer Thomas Bjorn, and The Sultan of Brunei.

He told the court that he now lives in a mobile home at his daughter's house in Old Windsor, Berkshire.

He took to the stand to express remorse, explaining that he "panicked" and fled from officers because of an investigation into his finances by HMRC and the police.

The investigation, in which officers were said to be seeking to confiscate millions of pounds, has now ended.

He said: "I really regret what I've done and embarrassed myself.

"I now live in a mobile home next to my daughter and grandson to help with the illness of my grandson.

"I saw was a police car with the sirens on behind me, I panicked.

"I was under a lot of pressure over the last year from police and HMRC. They came to my house and arrested me and my family and wanted £50 million.

"The stress was very, very bad – mentally, and healthily."

Sines is reported to be a close associate of Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh, an alleged boss of the Kinahan cartel organised crime gang.

In 2011 he was banned from horseracing for 14 years after being found guilty of fixing several 2009 races by the British Horseracing Authority.

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