A WOMAN who was passenger in a stolen car which led police on a high-speed chase through a busy town centre avoided jail 'by the closest possible margin.'

Boozed-up Karen Loughman encouraged the teenage driver to shake off the pursuing patrol car as they raced around Redcar.

Other motorists and pedestrians had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by the stolen Vauxhall Nova and onlookers were said to be horrified by the speed of the hatchback.

The chase went through Redcar Lane, Plantation Road and Westmorland Road before the Nova was driven across football pitches on a recreation ground and out on to West Dyke Road through bushes.

The car skidded to a halt in Micklow Close and the three occupants fled, but Loughman was caught and a can of lager from the back seat was linked to her by forensic experts.

Teesside Crown Court was told last week that during a police interview she refused to name the other occupants and insisted she thought the car belonged to the driver.

Prosecutor Gillian Kane said she returned to the police station and owned up three months later, saying she told the driver to get away because she did not want to be arrested.

Loughman, 36, of Rosedale Gardens, Loftus, admitted allowing herself to be carried in a car she knew was stolen. She was put on probation for three years and given a community rehabilitation order.

Her barrister Nigel Soppitt said Loughman is an alcoholic and her sense of responsibility was impaired by drink at the time of the offence, October 11 last year.

Mr Soppitt said: "Of course she is in jeopardy of a sentence of imprisonment but society would be much better served by allowing her to access treatment rather than by simply locking her away.

"She showed outstanding remorse by going to the police station in January, three months after the incident, and giving a full admission. She needn't have done that."

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, QC, told Loughman: "Let me tell you straight away that you have escaped going to prison today by the closest possible margin."