31 March 2024 , 21:08
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James Sheridan and his partner were attacked in their home over an unpaid six-figure debt - now he’s admitted driving dangerously in a 140mph police chase some months before the incident
A man who was left with one leg after a brutal gangland machete attack is facing jail following a 140mph police chase.
James Sheridan had to have his right leg and two fingers amputated and his partner also lost fingers when she was hacked at during the horrific home invasion as she attempted to phone the police. The attack in Coatbridge in Lanarkshire, Scotland, was said to have been carried out by gangsters from Liverpool over an unpaid six-figure debt, the Daily Record reports.
In a post on social media Sheridan later taunted his assailants. He posted a video of himself dancing next to his hospital bed online following the incident. In it the young man can be heard saying: “Take my fingers, take my leg, but you won’t take my life, ya f*****g dafties”.
At Airdrie Sheriff Court last week, Sheridan, 29, admitted driving dangerously on the M8 and other roads in Lanarkshire on August 5, 2022, nine months before the attack. The court heard police chased him for miles during rush hour. Sarah Healing, prosecuting, said police had been looking for his black Audi, which had false plates.
They pursued him after spotting the car at around 4.40pm but he “accelerated harshly”, went the wrong way on a roundabout and joined the M8. She added: “He reached speeds of more than 140 miles an hour. He continued along the A725, where the speed limit was 40, at up to 120 miles an hour. “For safety reasons, police abandoned their pursuit.” The Audi was later found abandoned in Bellshill. Sheridan was arrested six days later.
Conceding it was a “particularly serious” case of dangerous driving, defence lawyer Peter Malone said: “There is no doubt the custody threshold has been met but I ask the court to call for a social work report that will explain the life-changing events this man has gone through over the last year. He was attacked the day after being released from an 18-month sentence. His leg was amputated from the thigh down, he has only eight fingers and a significant brain injury.”
Sheriff Derek Livingston imposed an interim driving ban and agreed to defer sentence on Sheridan, now of Glasgow, until May, but warned him: “Whatever your personal circumstances, custody is at the forefront of my mind.”
Following last year’s home invasion, Sheridan’s ex-partner told the Sunday Mail about the “horrendous” ordeal. The mum of two said: “It has been a traumatic experience. My partner and I have gone our separate ways. I’m not in touch with him any more.”