Danger driver sped from police after being spotted in damaged car

Grant Sharpe, 23, from Hartlepool, tried to give police the slip in the early hours, knowing he was an uninsured and unlicensed driver.

A crown court judge was told the offences happened in the Scarborough area, where Sharpe was visiting his pregnant girlfriend, and was driving home to Hartlepool.

Prosecutor David Ward said officers’ attention was initially drawn to Sharpe’s vehicle in Scarborough because it was damaged, but when they went to speak to him he drove off.

The vehicle was spotted by another traffic officer on the A171 Scarborough-Whitby road at about 1am.

A court heard he tailed the vehicle, which accelerated away, weaving onto the wrong side of the road before overtaking a vehicle on a blind bend in the village of Hawsker, near Whitby.

“He goes through temporary red traffic lights and (around) a roundabout on the wrong side of the road,” said Mr Ward.

Another traffic officer was lying in wait further down the road with a stinger device, which brought the car to a halt.

Police searched the car and found a knuckle duster in Sharpe’s pocket.

He was arrested and charged with dangerous driving, possessing an offensive weapon, and driving without insurance or a licence on December 13 last year.

Sharpe, formerly of Moyne Gardens, Hartlepool, but lately of Hinderwell Road, Scarborough, appeared for sentence at York Crown Court after pleading guilty to all four offences.

The court heard he had five previous convictions for 12 offences including drink-driving, aggravated vehicle-taking, possessing a knife and driving an unlicensed and uninsured car.

Defence barrister Michael Cahill said Sharpe had driven from Hartlepool to Scarborough to visit his girlfriend, who had been taken into hospital due to complications with her pregnancy.

He was on his way back to Hartlepool when he was spotted by police.

Jailing Sharpe for six months, Judge Andrew Stubbs QC told him: “You were causing a danger to yourself but, more importantly, to other road users who might be around.”

Sharpe was also banned from driving for two and a half years.