A CAR thief who led police on a chase of speeds of up to 60mph into a residential area, before crashing into a wall, has been jailed.

Lee Smith, 25, from Chestnut Avenue, Spennymoor, was driving a stolen Ford Fiesta, when he was spotted by an officer on the A689 near Bishop Auckland.

 

The policeman knew a car like that had been reported stolen and became suspicious when it went around a roundabout and headed back in the direction it had been coming from.

Lewis Kerr, prosecuting at Durham Crown Court, said the chase took place on October 17 at around 11pm.

He said: “The pursuit began on the A689, which is a country road, and turned into Wilson Avenue, which is a residential area in Bishop Auckland.

“The defendant drove straight across the crossroads and failed to give way to other vehicles.

“The police lost sight of the vehicle but quickly found it again and saw the vehicle had collided with a wall.”

Several occupants, including the defendant, made off, but one young woman, who had injured her leg, identified Smith as the driver.

She said she had no idea the car had been stolen and had been offered a lift.

Smith had previously pleaded guilty to fraud, theft, taking without consent, two counts of driving while disqualified, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving.

All of the offences were committed between October 8 and 18.

He also asked for ten other offences to be taking into consideration including eight thefts from motor vehicles and two interfering with motor vehicles.

Smith was first disqualified from driving at the age of 15 and in December he was banned for four years.

Mitigating, Mark Styles said Smith wanted to turn his life around to establish a relationship with his daughter.

He said: “He has had a terrible problem with drugs. It is down to him to sort it out. He knows that. He tells me he is going to try.”

The judge, Recorder Nichols Lumley, jailed him for eight months.

He said: “This behaviour has to come to an end. This is dangerous driving of an extreme kind.

“It is pure good fortune that you did not hurt yourself or other people.You could have killed either yourself or other people.”