A DANGEROUS driver has had a custodial sentence increased after a judge heard details of a third case against the young motorist.

Judge Christopher Prince said it was ‘pure chance’ no-one was killed or badly hurt when Leon Ferry led police on a high speed chase between Consett and Durham.

The 20-year-old accelerated away from police in a Vauxhall Zafira, through a red light, before overtaking cars and swerving to avoid head-on collisions with oncoming traffic.

Durham Crown Court was told Ferry left a woman with whiplash injuries when he collided with the back of her Ford Fiesta, leaving the car he was driving, which belonged to his friend’s mother, damaged.

Ferry, of Doric Road, New Brancepeth, abandoned the car in woodland after driving over a pavement and through a fence.

The offences were committed on September 16, between two other incidents of dangerous driving in May and October, and Ferry previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking.

He was given a 39-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution last month and Judge Prince said he will serve a further six months consecutively.

The judge said: “It was a matter of pure chance no-one was killed or seriously injured. This was a case of very bad driving.”