A DANGER driver who went on the run when he faced jail for a high-speed police chase was branded a coward by a judge as he jailed him for 15 months.

Christopher Davis forced cars to swerve to avoid a collision, raced through a red light and took a roundabout the wrong way as he tried to evade capture.

The 26-year-old fled when he finally abandoned the Skoda Fabia, but was found hiding in a garage by a force helicopter which joined the pursuit in Hartlepool.

A judge heard how he failed to turn up for a hearing at Teesside Crown Court in November and was at large for eight months before his arrest this week.

He had by lying low with a new girlfriend and her young son to avoid facing charges of dangerous driving, having no insurance and driving without a licence.

The judge, Recorder David Dixon, told Davis: “It is right that the court should show its disregard and utter contempt for the way you have behaved.

“You being the coward that you are, came to court last November, no doubt received advice as to what would happen to you, and you ran. You’ve hidden away.

“It is said you had been living with your girlfriend and you had built up a bond with her and her child. What a silly thing to have done when you knew you were at risk of going to custody.

“Think of the harm you could have caused that child.”

Garry Wood, mitigating, said Davis had never been to jail until he was arrested on a warrant on Wednesday, and told the court it had been a shock to his system.

“Even now, his only concern is for the child,” he said. “He has spent the last couple of days in Holme House. It is the first time he has been in an establishment like that.”

Davis, of Rainham Close, Middlesbrough, admitted all the driving charges as well as failing to surrender to custody - for which he got one month.

He was also banned from the roads for two years, and told by the judge: “You need to grow up and realise that some things are unacceptable.”

The judge described his driving as “utterly disgraceful” and added: “The risks were terrifying. Just imagine what would have happened if one of those cars you encountered had not pulled over.”

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, told the court how the Skoda had initially been seen driving dangerously in the Durham Constabulary area on September 14, then in Middlesbrough before it was traced to Hartlepool.