A DRIVER led police on a 120mph pursuit before crashing into a fence – then boasted he had brought the drama to a "controlled stop" to show off his skills.

Wheelchair-user Gerald Appleyard – who had three passengers, including a woman four-and-a-half months pregnant – was slammed by a judge for his morning madness.

A court heard how Appleyard takes medication for a degenerative spine condition, but tops it up with a litre of vodka a day and amphetamine three times a week.

The 50-year-old had been boozing and taking drugs the night before the chase at 10.20am on July 10. He had also had a drink on the morning, and failed a roadside breath-test.

He raced away from Hartlepool town centre, through red lights, overtook a cyclist at 83mph on a country road, and crashed the Renault Megane convertible at of 70mph.

The eight-mile pursuit – which went towards the village of Hart, and then through Wingate to Station Town in County Durham – took seven minutes from start to end.

Defence lawyer, Andrew Teate, told Teesside Crown Court yesterday: "His driving would not have been out of place on a race track or in a rally. He acknowledges that."

Judge Stephen Ashurst said Appleyard's boasts to a probation officer of his motoring skills and the controlled stop should be taken "with a very large pinch of salt".

He said: "A moment's thought would have told any sensible person that a pedestrian attempting to cross the road or a child on a bike would have been in mortal danger.

"I am afraid I do not share the view that your condition is so serious that it would be inappropriate or cruel to send you into custody immediately.

"I do bear in mind that your ill-health did not prevent you from embarking on and sustaining a piece of dreadful driving which started and ended in a public area, and the public would simply not understand how anyone driving in that manner could possibly avoid an immediate custodial sentence."

Appleyard, of Front Street East, Wingate, was jailed for eight months and banned from the roads for three years and four months, after he admitted dangerous driving and having no licence.

The court heard how he was breathalysed at the police station, but there was an "irregularity" with the machine, and he was not prosecuted for excess alcohol.

Mr Teate had asked the judge to suspend the prison sentence because it would cause "significant difficulties", and said: "Thankfully, there were no injuries, but that was by the grace of God rather than by any judgement of the defendant."