Second Rugby Participant ‘Stinking of Hashish’ Crashes Throughout Excessive Pace Chase

Wrexham’s Maredudd Francis — who as soon as performed for Welsh rugby group RGC — was sentenced this week to 4 years and 4 months in jail after pleading responsible to harmful driving, possession with intent to provide class A medication (cocaine), possession with intent to provide class B medicine (hashish), and possession of prison property, per Cheshire Police.

The incident went down again in September 2024 when authorities tried to cease a gray BMW 325 on the M56 motorway within the UK. The automobile was believed to be linked to a provide of unlawful medicine and was being pushed by Francis on the time; he additionally had somebody within the passenger’s seat.

Although police say Francis “initially complied” and appeared to comply with authorities off the street, he then “accelerated onto a site visitors island, narrowly lacking an HGV, and re-joining the motorway he had left simply moments in the past.” A high-speed chase adopted, reaching speeds as much as 139mph, in response to cops, as Francis “weaved between site visitors.”

Video reveals the BMW then driving on an off-ramp and leaving the freeway, earlier than allegedly racing by way of a pink mild and operating straight right into a Toyota truck. Each automobiles spun out after colliding, with Francis hitting a guardrail on the aspect of the street. He was then seen getting out of the automotive, placing his arms within the air as he was arrested.

Police additionally inform him they’re going to “clearly” be doing a drugwipe — or drug check — on him as a result of “you stink like hashish.”

Based on police, no one sustained severe accidents within the crash.

Francis was arrested for harmful driving and picked up a suspicion of cash laundering cost after “a big amount of money wrapped in a rubber band was discovered within the passenger footwell that Francis admitted belonged to him.” He picked up one other cost of suspicion of caring within the provide of medication after he allegedly tried to “snap a telephone” officers present in his automotive.

“The proof we subsequently present in his automobile after his arrest, paired with [the] appreciable lengths Mr Francis went to trying to destroy certainly one of his telephones that we seized from him while he was in handcuffs, led us to imagine that we had been coping with [a] severe drug dealing operation,” Police Constable AJ Reid, who was a part of the pursuit, mentioned in a press release.

Officers later obtained a search warrant for his dwelling and found a trove of medication inside.

“Through the search officers found roughly 8.6kg price of cocaine, with a possible road worth of over £317k, together with round 380kg of hashish estimated to be price as much as £3.5k,” they wrote. “Round £10k in money, roughly 1000 cigarettes, a Rolex watch and a pair of Versace sun shades had been additionally discovered inside a navy suitcase that belonged to Francis.”

Police added that, “regardless of this appreciable quantity of medication and different prison paraphernalia being discovered inside his related addresses,” he “refused to simply accept any accountability and answered ‘no remark’ to each query posed to him, together with as as to whether he felt any regret for his actions.”

He wound up pleading responsible to the fees above.

Along with the 52-month sentence, he’ll be banned from driving for 2 years after his launch from jail. He’ll additionally have to take an prolonged check earlier than allowed again on the street.

“Maredudd Francis’ blatant disregard for the security of not solely himself and his accomplice who was within the automotive with him, however the different street customers on the M56 when he determined to drive at frankly ludicrous speeds, is a testomony to how responsible he was and the way he thought he might get away along with his crimes scot-free,” Constable Reid mentioned after sentencing.