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

Drunken Karen Loughman encouraged the teenage driver to shake off the patrol car as they raced around Redcar, east Cleveland.

Other motorists and pedestrians had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by the stolen Vauxhall Nova.

The chase went across football pitches and through bushes before skidding to a halt.

The three occupants fled, but Loughman was caught.

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

Gillian Kane, prosecuting, said she later owned up, saying she told the driver to get away because she did not want to be arrested.

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

Her barrister, Nigel Soppitt, said Loughman's responsibility was impaired by her alcoholism at the time of the offence, on October 11 last year.

He said: "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."

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. You cannot appreciate how close you got to starting a prison sentence."