A young man who escaped from police custody and remained on the run for a total of 21 minutes has been jailed for being "grotesquely stupid".
Aaron West was arrested after police were called to a disturbance but managed to break free from the grasp of officers before legging it from the scene.
The 21-year-old was arrested again a short while later in Billingham and has been remanded in custody since August 19, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Elisha Marsay, prosecuting, said: “He was arrested and escorted from the property by officers. Once outside, he has pretended to fall, which has given him the opportunity to slip out of his handcuffs and jump over a fence.
“The defendant was located a short time later by other officers in the area.”
The court heard how West was on the run for a total of 21 minutes.
West, of Rydal Avenue, Redcar, pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful arrest while he was serving a suspended sentence for earlier offences.
Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client’s own stupidity had resulted in him missing the funeral of his grandfather.
“This is an offence that is grotesquely stupid on two fronts,” she said. “One is the attempt at escape was never going to be successful in circumstances when he was already under a court order.
“The second reason this is grotesquely stupid is because initially the defendant had done nothing wrong and faced no further charges from the incident – the whole escapade was an entire waste of time and has cost him his liberty and missed his grandfather’s funeral.
“He has shot himself in the foot in more ways than one.”
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Judge Advocate Tom Mitchell sentenced West to nine weeks in custody for escaping from custody and activated his 26-week suspended sentence to run straight after.
He said: “You slipped the handcuffs and ran off from the police, it is savagely ironic that those free 21 minutes have cost you so much.
“You weren’t charged with any further offences arising out of that matter. In the meantime, following your remand in custody, your grandfather has died.
“I have no doubt that you acutely feel the pain of the consequences you brought on yourself and your family.”
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