A JUDGE has said motorists ignoring police requests to stop before engaging in pursuits face the prospect of prison.

The warning was issued by Judge Christopher Prince, on the day he was reappointed as Honorary Judicial Recorder of Durham.

Judge Prince made the remarks as he jailed 25-year-old Billy John Barron for 13-and-a-half months after he admitted driving a Ford Transit van dangerously between Craghead and his home village of Pelton Fell, near Chester-le-Street, on the evening of January 16.

Durham Crown Court was told he was on bail at the time, following his arrest for driving without insurance and not in accordance with the licence five days earlier.

Deborah Smithies, prosecuting, said a police community support officer became suspicious on seeing an improvised cardboard number plate apparently “slapped on” to the back of a parked van.

As inquiries were made via the police national computer, as it was suspected it may be stolen, Barron and a young woman emerged from a nearby house and got into the vehicle.

Although an officer tried to signal for the vehicle to stop, Barron pulled away.

Road policing officers were informed and a patrol vehicle caught up with the van, which had a light fitting cover missing.

It weaved left and right in damp, dark road conditions and a pursuit followed in which Barron drove over a mini roundabout, accelerated at excessive speeds in a residential area, and took dangerous turning, cornering and overtaking manoeuvres.

The chase ended when Barron jumped out, with his female passenger still in the front passenger seat of the moving vehicle.

It came to rest, however, without anyone being injured, in Miller Gardens, Pelton Fell.

Barron was chased down a farm track and apprehended, immediately admitting having been “an idiot”.

He gave a positive test revealing cocaine and cannabis in his system.

Barron, 25, of Valley Road, Pelton Fell, admitted dangerous driving.

Chris Baker, mitigating, said his client panicked on seeing the police, and conceded it was “more good luck than anything else” no-one was injured.

Jailing him, Judge Prince said for 20 minutes Barron put the lives of himself, his passenger and other road users at risk.

“I want to send out a very clear message to people driving vehicles in County Durham," he said.

“When you see that blue light of hear the siren, you either pull over and accept whatever penalty may be meted out, or you engage in a pursuit and go to prison.”

Barron was also banned from driving for three years.