Hartlepool cocaine driver may have 'turned the corner'

Harlea Murray, 21, from Hartlepool, was freed from prison in January after he was locked up for a drunken chase committed last August.

The judge, Recorder Aisha Wadoodi, said glowing progress reports suggested that all his achievements would be lost if he was jailed again.

She told Teesside Crown Court: ”There are lots of signs that he may have turned the corner.”

Murray had pleaded guilty to the August episode while he was still under investigation for the June 20 incident, which started at Hartlepool Marina and ended with two crashes not involving other vehicles, said prosecutor Rachel Masters.

Murray had nine convictions for 29 offences from 2016 until his last sentence in October.

Several were for aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving.

In June he was four times the limit for cocaine after he and a passenger legged it from the crashed Volkswagen Golf.

They were arrested after running along a railway line.

Stephen Constantine, defending, told the court there had been no further offending by Murray and that the offender management team said he had been engaging positively.

Murray, of Farndale Road, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving under the influence of drugs, no insurance and possession of cannabis.

He received a six-month jail sentence, which was suspended for 12 months, disqualified from driving for three years and until he passes an extended test;.

Murray was also ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activities and observe a six-month electronic curfew.

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