Teen led police pursuit days after judge's warning
Northumbria PoliceA banned teenage driver who led police on a high speed pursuit days after being given a suspended sentence for the same offence has been detained for 22 months.
On 19 June Alfie Ford, 19, was detained for 15 months suspended for two years for a police pursuit in March in which he reached 104mph in a 40mph zone, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Eleven days later police spotted him at the wheel again and another pursuit ensued. Judge Robert Spragg said Ford would have been warned in "clear terms" what would happen if he re-offended.
Ford, of Green Lane in South Shields, had denied dangerous driving and driving while disqualified and without insurance, but was found guilty by magistrates.
Ford's previous police pursuit on 27 March ended when he crashed into a police car and van, the judge said.
On 30 June a police officer on a motorbike in South Shields spotted Ford driving a Mitsubishi with passengers, the court heard.
He activated his blue lights but the teenager sped off, reaching 50mph in a 30mph zone and 77mph in a 40mph area before going the wrong way round a roundabout, the court heard.
The car was found abandoned with Ford having fled on foot.
In mitigation, the court heard Ford was "immature" and the structure he needed to be provided by the probation service had not had time to take effect.
Spragg said that was Ford's fault, as he had missed an appointment with the service before his latest dangerous driving.
"You were given a chance," Spragg told him, adding the previous judge would have told him in "clear terms" what would happen if he committed more offences.
"You did exactly the same thing having been given a chance," the judge told him, adding he put other people "at real risk of serious injury".
Ford was also banned from driving for two years three months and will have to pass an extended test.