AN unqualified driver tried to "shake off" police during high-speed chase – with his pregnant partner and her child in his car.

Bradley Parry raced at double the speed limit and narrowly avoided hitting a van in the drama through residential streets on Teesside.

The 21-year-old's girlfriend was in the passenger seat of the Vauxhall Astra, shouting at him to stop.

Teesside Crown Court heard he said he foolishly got behind the wheel to take her to a medical appointment.

Police officers spotted him driving "erratically" and "at speed", and followed the hatchback after checks showed it was not insured.

Parry refused to stop and reached speeds of 64mph in the 30mph zones and went through two red lights as he tried to lose his pursuers.

He overtook on Eston High Street and went on to the wrong side of the road, before running into static traffic at lights where officers blocked him in.

Police found Parry's pregnant partner in the front passenger seat and her four-year-old son in the back seat.

Parry said he was taking his girlfriend to the doctor's and "didn't want his car to be seized owing to the amount of money he's spent on it".

Testing positive for cannabis and cocaine, he told officers he had hoped to "shake off" the police vehicles.

Parry, of Clynes Road, Grangetown , admitted dangerous driving, driving while unfit through drugs, driving without an appropriate licence and having no insurance.

Michele Turner, defending, said Parry had never been in trouble before, did not play down his actions and showed sincere remorse.

She said: "Everything was running late. Everything was delayed. They took the decision of taking the car, a foolish one.

"He did potentially risk his partner, his unborn child and her child. That's not something he takes lightly."

Ms Turner said prison would take Parry away from his now 16-week-old baby and he would not make the same mistake twice.

Judge Crowson told Parry: "Dangerous driving away from police in residential areas causes a real risk to other road users, to pedestrians, to anybody around.

"It risked your partner and it risked her son in the back and the unborn child."

He gave Parry a one-year suspended prison sentence, 20 days' rehabilitation activity, an attendance centre requirement, an 18-month driving ban and £250 costs.