Sunderland dad without driving license jailed after dangerous high speed off-road police chase

Callum Tuckerman, 33, was put behind bars for 12 months and banned from driving for two years for his part in a pursuit which ended when he smashed into a garden wall. Tuckerman, of Rowell Close, Ryhope Colliery, made the pedestrians blink first when he overtook off a roundabout in Doxford Park on the evening of Thursday, January 30.

And when finally cornered in a dead-end, he drove his girlfriend’s Nissan Qashqai onto grassland in a desperate bid to evade capture. His solicitor told magistrates in South Tyneside the defendant, who did not have a driving licence or insurance, had borrowed his partner’s car without her knowledge.

The first-time offender drove it to a McDonald's outlet but panicked when patrolling police later signalled for him to pull over. Tuckerman pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and failing to stop for police.

Prosecutor Emily Hunt said officers spotted Tuckerman driving on Allendale Road, Farringdon, and watched him go fully around a roundabout and exit onto Silksworth Way. But when police signalled for him to stop, he instead sped off, overtaking other drivers and sparking a chase.

Ms Hunt said Tuckerman then entered Doxford Park Way, hitting 60mph in a 40mph zone, before turning into Mill Farm Road. She described the offender as trying to “force his way through traffic” – with one manoeuvre causing the pedestrians, who were on a central island, to step back.

Police aborted the chase because of the level of danger but resumed it when they saw Tuckerman drive into a dead-end in Knollside Close. But they abandoned it again seconds later when they saw him career onto grass land and vanish off.

Ms Hunt said the car was found abandoned, and red dust on a wheel was discovered to be from a garden wall it had crashed into. Police traced the registered owner, who said she did not know who had taken the car, but CCTV showed a man getting into it at 7.15pm.

A second CCTV image revealed it being driven by a male at a McDonald's. Angus Westgarth, defending, described it as “quite amazing” that somebody with no previous convictions had committed such a serious offence.

He said Tuckerman did not seem to appreciate how serious his predicament before the court was or that the dangerous driving offence carried possible prison time. Mr Westgarth added: “He was certainly naïve about what the court’s powers are, there’s a real prospect of custody.

“The good thing is that nobody was injured, fortunately, and he has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and has no previous convictions. Imprisonment would have dire consequences for him. It was a moment of madness.

“He panicked because he had no licence or insurance. He should have stopped and taken his punishment.” Magistrates said Tuckerman, who they labelled "a risk to the public", must also pay a £177 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.