A DRUNKEN taxi passenger, who ordered the driver to take him on a lengthy trip, took to the wheel of the vehicle when the cabbie jumped out in fear for his safety, a court was told.

Ryan Michael Woodley drove the taxi in the direction of the fleeing driver, before reversing down a residential street, damaging parked vehicles as he went.

Durham Crown Court heard that several residents in Mellanby Crescent, Newton Aycliffe, were awoken by the screeching of tyres and general commotion, and alerted police.

When a patrol car began pursuing the taxi, Woodley travelled at varying speeds, mounting the pavement, driving over a roundabout, before failing to negotiate a junction and causing “significant” damage to the Ford Focus by crashing into a fence.

Joanne Kidd, prosecuting, said Woodley fled on foot, and at one stage turned on an officer chasing him, threatening him with clenched fists, before he was overcome with the use of incapacitating spray.

He gave a breath test alcohol reading approaching three times the legal limit for driving.

Miss Kidd said the whole escapade began when Woodley and another man boarded the taxi in Claypath, Durham, late on July 16 last year, asking to be taken to Consett.

But they then told the driver to keep going, visiting several locations round County Durham, before the final drama in Newton Aycliffe, at about 2.30am on July 17.

Miss Kidd added that the badly shaken driver was offered assistance by residents in Mellanby Crescent who initially found him shaking uncontrollably after his ordeal.

Although initially accused of kidnap, that allegation was subsequently dropped, and Woodley, formerly of Pearson Street, Spennymoor, was charged with aggravated vehicle taking, which he admitted at an earlier hearing.

Charges against his fellow passenger, a 25-year-old Trimdon Grange man, were not pursued after Woodley’s guilty plea.

David Lamb, for Woodley, said as a result of his arrest he was recalled to prison to serve the outstanding part of a previous sentence which is not due to end until August 26.

Judge Christopher Prince said the maximum sentence for aggravated vehicle taking is two years, and Woodley’s offending merited 21 months, with a one-third ‘discount’ for his ‘guilty’ plea.

He was, therefore, given a 14-month sentence and was banned from driving for two years.

A further charge of driving with excess alcohol will be dealt with on a future date by magistrates.