A YOUNG motorist who survived an accident in which two friends died eight years ago, was jailed after leading police on a high-speed chase.

Lewis Williams reached speeds up to 103-miles per hour on a stretch of road with a 60-limit, dropping to 30-mph entering Brancepeth Village, near Durham, at about 11.45am on March 16.

Durham Crown Court heard that a police patrol officer followed the Volkswagen Beetle from New Brancepeth with blue lights flashing and siren sounding after checking that it was uninsured.

Amrit Jandoo, prosecuting, said, having lost sight of the VW through the village, the officer came across it, abandoned on a grass verge, at a junction.

The officer gave chase across fields and finally caught up with Williams hiding behind a bush.

Williams, 22, of Derwent Road, Ferryhill, who was on bail at the time for other driving matters, admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, no insurance and no licence.

John Turner, mitigating, said there was, “a tragic irony” in Williams’ involvement in the incident, as he was a passenger in a vehicle in which two friends were killed in 2009.

He, himself, suffered serious brain injuries and spent 18 months as an in-patient and a similar amount of time as an out-patient recovering at a specialist hospital in Liverpool.

Mr Turner said Williams, “simply panicked”, on seeing police in the latest incident.

Imposing a 12-month sentence, with four months’ reduced for his ‘guilty’ plea, Judge Simon Hickey also banned Williams from driving for 28 months.