Audi driver was 'highly aggressive' after leaving crashed car outside Greggs store and fleeing to Subway

Dayna-Jo Connolly, 26, left her Audi smashed up outside a Greggs outlet in Sea Road, Sunderland, and was seen making off by witnesses.

Connolly, of Carrol Walk, Biddick Hall, South Shields, is said to have shouted, ‘Get out, we can’t get caught’ - and ran with two passengers to a branch of Subway.

When police found her she became aggressive and refused to be breath tested, magistrates in South Tyneside heard.

In court, she denied being the driver at 7.25pm on Friday, December 2 - and pointed the finger of blame at a friend she did not name.

But she still pleaded guilty to failing to provide a sample for analysis and driving without insurance – and will be sentenced next month.

Prosecutor Glenda Beck said: “Officers responded to a report of a road traffic accident in Sea Road.

“There was information the defendant had been driving an Audi which collided with another vehicle, before crashing into a wall.

“It was said she had made off from the scene and was in a Subway sandwich shop. They were located in the shop and were identified as being drunk.

“An officer asked them for their details and if they had been involved in the collision.

“The defendant said that she felt sick because she had been at a friend’s funeral that day and denied being involved in the accident.

“She asked if she could go outside the shop because she felt sick, and she then attempted to run away.

“The officer took her by the arms, and she became highly aggressive and tried to assault the officer.

“A witness said that the defendant was the driver and had left through the driver’s side.

“She continued to be aggressive and was arrested. She was placed in a police vehicle but attempted to kick out the window.

“Another police vehicle came, and she was transferred into the cage. She had white froth around her mouth.

“Officers thought that she may have been under the influence of drink or drugs.”

Mrs Beck added: “A witness said there had been a loud bang near the Bluebell crossroads.

“The bang was from the Audi which collided with a Vauxhall Corsa and swiped into another car and hit the centre aisle and then the front of Greggs.

“A witness ran over and saw three women inside. The driver said, ‘Get out, we can’t get caught’.

“Witnesses could tell that they were intoxicated, and they were stumbling, and they ran from the scene.”

Connelly and a friend twice returned to the car in the next ten minutes, first to retrieve a purse and then a mobile phone and makeup, it was said.

Jason Smith, defending, said: “She says the witnesses are mistaken about who was driving at the time, but says it was her vehicle.

“She accepts that she was belligerent to the police because she wasn’t the driver, it was one of the other two.”

Magistrates ordered an all-options report and handed her an interim driving ban.

She will be sentenced at the same court on Monday, January 9.