Hartlepool barber led police on 70mph town centre chase while under the influence of cocaine

Jack Liddle, 30, from Hartlepool, pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court to dangerous driving and driving under the influence of cocaine.

His partner called police on September 9 last year when he was banging on her door at 9pm and driving his car up and down the street in Redcar.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said that police went to the address where they also learned that he was affected by drugs.

An officer found him sitting in the car near Redcar town police office, in Lord Street, but he drove off on spotting the police vehicle.

Liddle's car reached a speed of 70mph in a the 30mph zone town centre with sparks coming from the front offside wheel.

He sped off onto the A174 before he suddenly stopped and he threw the car keys out of a window before he was arrested.

Miss Atkinson said that the officer smelled slcohol on him, but he passed a roadside breath test.

He was given a drugs test at the police station and he tested positive for cocaine, the court heard.

Nicci Horton, defending, said that he was grieving over the suicide of a close friend a short time before the incident.

The friend had phoned Liddle asking him to visit him, but Liddle's partner said no. He was told the next day that the friend is believed to have taken his own life.

She said that the couple had been arguing about it on the night of the driving incident.

Miss Horton added: “On that occasion he had no regard to his own safety, and he failed to consider the danger to others.

"But the Probation Service say they can offer him help with his problems."

She said that he would benefit from help from the Probation Service and he had a job to go to as a gent's barber.

Liddle, of Tempest Road, Hartlepool, was given an eight months jail sentence suspended for 12 months, with 24 days rehabilitation requirements and disqualified for 18 months and until he passes an extended driving test.

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