A DRUNK driver who sparked a high speed police chase with two young children in his car was jailed for a year yesterday.

Norman Holmes, 23, sped through a red light, drove at 50mph on the wrong side of the carriageway and crashed into a bollard with his five-year-old son and a two-year-old in the back.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Holmes, who was already banned from driving, refused to stop when officers tried to pull him over on Sunderland Road, South Shields, South Tyneside, on May 7.

After the crash, Holmes fled, leaving two adults and the two children in the Ford Orion.

Jane Waugh, defending, said Holmes had been drinking with friends and relatives, and did not stop for police because he knew he was banned.

Jailing Holmes and banning him from driving for three years, Judge Tim Hewitt told him: "Those two children were found to be crying and very distressed at the end of the chase when you abandoned the car."

Holmes, of Johnson Street, South Shields, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, dangerous driving, having no insurance and driving with excess alcohol.