A DANGEROUS driver has been disqualified for a seventh time and jailed for two years.

Michael Williams led officers on a 15 minute chase in a residential area of Horden, in east Durham, before he was stopped when a police van blocked his way.

Durham Crown Court heard he drove a Rover 600 recklessly at 10.15am on September 28 when there were members of the public around.

Penny Bottomley, prosecuting, said: “There was a mother with a pushchair on the pavement so the police vehicle mounted the kerb.

“The Rover went in between the police vehicle and the hedge and there was a collision.”

The Northern Echo: The Recorder of Durham Judge Christopher Prince

Judge Prince: “Time and again this court has said, and time and again it has been reported in the media: ‘Stop or go to prison’.

Williams, who has previously been jailed for car theft and banned from driving six times since 2006, put a Stanley knife in his pocket before he was arrested.

The 25-year-old, of Camp Street, Peterlee, first appeared before Consett Magistrates’ Court where he entered guilty pleas to dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified and having a bladed article in public.

The crown court was told he had no intention of using the knife to harm anyone.

Rachael Landin, mitigating, said: “He has panicked and been foolish. It was never brandished in any way and never used to threaten anyone.”

She also said Williams’ girlfriend was pregnant and he wanted become a good partner, father and role model to his unborn child.

But Judge Christopher Prince said arming himself before his arrest was an aggravating feature of the case.

He jailed Williams for a total of two years and said he would serve half in custody and the rest on licence.

Williams has also been banned from driving for a further two years and will have to take an extended test if he reapplies for a licence.

The judge said: “Time and again this court has said, and time and again it has been reported in the media: ‘Stop or go to prison’.

“You did not stop and so you are going to prison. It is not complicated. You have a bad driving record and such a terrible record aggravates the sentence passed on you today to a very high degree.

“A particularly disturbing aspect of this is that after your car was brought to a halt you placed in your pocket a Stanley knife moments before you were arrested by police.”