A DRINK-driver who escaped a ban by getting three friends to lie for him in court, was jailed for almost three years yesterday.

John Parker, 19, was one-and-a-half times over the alcohol limit when police stopped his car in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

But when he went before Northallerton magistrates he and his friends gave evidence that a girl was driving and he was found not guilty, said Adrian Dent, prosecuting.

North Yorkshire Police launched an investigation, and the girl named as the driver said Parker asked her to lie for him, but she refused.

The friends who gave evidence for him, two men and another girl, then admitted they had lied, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Parker, of Quaker Lane, Northallerton, was sentenced to 33 months in a young offender's institution after he admitted perjury on December 3, 1999.

He also admitted stealing an 84-year-old widow's gold ring while decorating her home under a community service order.

James Pullen, 19, of Foxglove Court, Colburn, was sent to youth custody for two years. He admitted perjury and stealing the pensioner's purse, containing £110.

Also admitting perjury were James Bellian, 20, of The Crossroads, Thirsk, and Andrew Worley, 21, of St Mark's Walk, Stockton Road, Thirsk, who were given 200 hours' community service work, and a 17-year-old Bedale girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who was given 60 hours' work.