THE driver of a stolen car who led Cleveland Police on two high-speed chases in one day was put behind bars for 28 months yesterday, and disqualified for three years.

When Darren Dalziell, 20, from Middlesbrough, was first spotted in the Vauxhall Corsa in Middlesbrough, he collided with a builder's skip and then with the back of a police car.

Police saw him again hours later, said Dan Cordey, prosecuting, and he drove off over pavements and grass before abandoning the car. He was arrested after his fingerprints were found in the car, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Dalziell of Marton Road, Middlesbrough, was recalled to a young offender's institution to serve ten months outstanding from a previous sentence and was given another 18 months after he admitted two counts of dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.