Sunderland dad-to-be led police on dangerous chase

Steven Thynne drove away from his street and then reached speeds of up to double the limit in a built-up area on April 15.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that thankfully nobody was injured and the chase came to a halt when Thynne left his vehicle nearby and ran off.

Mr Recorder Eckersley told him: "This was a bad piece of driving.

"(You) pretended to step outside your house to allow yourself to be spoken to by the police as you were wanted in relation to other matters.

"Plainly, you had no intention of speaking to them at all. You drove off at speed over a curb to do so when police attempted to pen you in.

"At times you were seen to be driving in excess of double the 30mph speed limit. At times you were on the wrong side of the road.

"Just so you know the seriousness of dangerous driving, if somebody had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, which there could have been, you would have caused a serious accident."

The judge said that whilst he did accept the pursuit was over a "short" period of time, Thynne's offending did cross the custodial threshold.

The 29-year-old, of Padgate Road in Pennywell, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at the first possible opportunity in Magistrates' Court.

Steven Reid, defending, told the court that Thynne had his first child on the way with his partner who he remains in a relationship with.

Mr Reid said: "There is genuine remorse from this defendant for the act that he did.

"This is a case where the duration is relatively short. In my submission it isn't the worst case of dangerous driving but it does cross the custodial threshold.

"In my submission, this is not the type of offence where immediate custody is required.

"He has responded well to previous interactions with the probation service."

The judge agreed with Mr Reid's judgement and told Thynne: "You need to be grateful for the submissions made by your defence barristers and your legal team.

"Because of the real efforts you have made, because of what is about to happen in your life with your partner, I feel I can just suspend the inevitable sentence."

Thynne was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years, and must complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pass an extended driving test.