Albanian migrant who arrived in Britain by small boat faces deportation after being jailed for 13 months for leading police on terrifying 110mph chase

An Albanian migrant who arrived in Britain in a rubber boat is facing deportation after being jailed for 13 months for leading police on a terrifying 110mph chase.

Lirdi Ruta, 19, collided with another car and ran several red lights as he tried to evade officers for 33 miles.

The teenager, who did not have a driving licence or insurance, took off when police tried to stop him at Ashley Heath near Bournemouth on August 22 last year because he had cannabis on him.

He raced through the towns of Verwood, Wimborne and Poole before he was finally stopped on the A338 near to where the chase started.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard Ruta came to the UK in a dinghy in 2022 and lived in Bournemouth for a while before moving to Cambridge. He lodged an asylum claim but this did not meet the required threshold for consideration, MailOnline understands. 

Tim Dracass, defending, said Ruta was 'ambivalent whether he stays here or returns to Albania'.

The Home Secretary has a duty to make a deportation order in respect of non-British or Irish citizens who have been convicted of an offence in the UK and sentenced to at least 12 months' imprisonment, unless certain exceptions apply. 

Ruta pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a licence or insurance and possession of a Class B drug.

Recorder Don Tait said: 'This was an appalling piece of driving. Because you had cannabis, you attempted to evade the police. This resulted in a 33-mile pursuit, sometimes on narrow country lanes.

'You failed to stop at a number of red traffic lights, you committed multiple traffic violations and you collided with another vehicle.

'The speed of the vehicle you were driving was recorded as up to 110mph. It's extremely fortunate that another road user was not injured because of your driving or still worse, they could have been killed.

'The pre-sentence report describes you as being a high risk to the English public, I cannot but agree with that assessment.

'You were in this country illegally and I have not been advised as to what actions the authority intend to take as far as your presence in this country is concerned.

'You had no driving licence and no insurance. I consider this to be a bad example of dangerous driving over an extended distance and in an endeavour to escape pursuing police officers. They would also have been put at risk by your driving.'

He sentenced Ruta to 13 months in prison and disqualified him from driving for three years and ordered the destruction of the 64g of cannabis.

More than 5,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain already this year, including 791 over the Easter weekend. 

The Home Office recently revealed a £100,000 ad campaign that aims to persuade people in countries including Albania not to come to the UK illegally.

The first wave of online ads will target Albania, Iraq, Egypt and Vietnam, with plans to introduce them in Turkey and India. 

But it was rubbished by migration campaigners, who called it 'toy town tinkering'.

More than 13,600 Albanians reached Britain by small boat in 2022 but last year the number fell by 90 per cent.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity.'