See moment that led danger driver from Sunderland to blame friend for being behind the wheel

Kyle Walsh was caught on a cyclist's camera driving his girlfriend's silver Volkswagen Passat at high speed and on the wrong side of the road in Hendon, Sunderland, on April 21, 2019.

Newcastle Crown Court heard one vehicle had to brake to avoid a collision and there were pedestrians in the area at the time.

Prosecutor Joe Hedworth told the court a notice under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act was sent to the keeper of the car to find out the identity of who was behind the wheel that day.

Mr Hedworth said the name and address of a man was provided on the returned form but added: "Police made inquiries and found out he was remanded in custody between March 25 and April 24, 2019 so he could not have been the driver."

The court heard when police viewed the footage that was recorded by the cyclist, Walsh was exposed as the person who was behind the wheel.

Walsh, 33, of Cairo Street, Hendon, Sunderland, who has a criminal record, admitted dangerous driving and was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice by a jury.

Judge Penny Moreland has now sentenced the dad-of-three to six months behind bars with a 15-month driving ban.

The judge told him: "When you received a form requiring details of who was driving on that occasion you put the name of your friend but it wasn't a successful deception, not because you thought better of it and told the police you had done that, but because you made a mistake and chose someone who was in custody at the time of the offending."

John Crawford, defending, said police knew the identity of the real driver two weeks after the offence, despite Walsh's attempt at deception.

Mr Crawford added: "It was a stupid decision, he accepts that.

"Thankfully it was for a relatively short piece of dangerous driving and thankfully no-one was hurt or inured.

"It was short-lived deception."

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