A TEENAGE driver who led four police cars on a terrifying high-speed chase wept today (Wednesday, December 17) as he was locked up.

Anthony Murphy's hopes of joining the army could be ruined by the 4am madness in Middlesbrough, on the A66 towards Darlington and back to Teesside.

Murphy - who had four young passengers in his Fiat Punto - was brought to a halt when he headed back into Middlesbrough town centre and police were worried about crowded streets.

One of the traffic cars which had pursued the 18-year-old boxed him in and collided with him to prevent him reaching the busy areas.

Teesside Crown Court heard that he had "panicked and didn't know what to do" when police first try to pull him over because he had been drinking.

He apologised to his friends throughout the frightening ride, and repeated it as soon as he was arrested, prosecutor Sue Jacobs told the court.

Murphy, of Borough Road, Middlesbrough, admitted dangerous driving in the early hours of August 3, and was jailed for nine months. He was also banned from the roads for two years.

His lawyer, Graham Silvester, said: "We can all be young and stupid, perhaps, on occasion, and this is an extreme example.

"He concedes it was absolutely wrong . . . this has had a salutary effect upon him. He is, however, of previous good character. He simply panicked and, thereafter, didn't know what to do."

The pursuit - at speeds of up to 100mph at times - took in Borough Road and Marton Road, before joining the A66 as far as Urlay Nook and then Elton, and back into Middlesbrough.

Judge John Walford told Murphy he would be failing in his public duty were he not to lock him up for that he described as "as bad a case of dangerous driving as you can get".

He added: "It is only made less serious by the time of night at which I took place, but the quality of the driving and the time involved is most serious.

"A distance of seven miles, I am prepared to accept, during which time you drove through red traffic lights, you drove at a grossly excessive speed and of course you executed obviously dangerous manoeuvres."