Banned driver in bid to flee chasing police

Patrol officers had spotted John Robert Fishwick’s Honda Civic on the Worsley Hall estate on Friday evening and had signalled him to pull over, Wigan magistrates were told.

But instead of stopping, Fishwick opted to drive home to Poplar Avenue, with the police following closely behind.

Defence solicitor Bill Pearson said his client just “panicked” and had decided to go straight home.

But when police, who knew he had been disqualified from the roads for drug-driving, challenged him, he insisted they were mistaken, the court heard.

And after police placed him in handcuffs, in the rear of their van, he managed to struggle free, said prosecutor Katie Beattie.

Fishwick was later caught on a footpath close to the Tesco store in Central Park Way, Ms Beattie told the court.

The handcuffs had to be cut off his wrist by firefighters because they were no longer operable.

Mr Pearson said Fishwick would indicate guilty pleas to offences of escaping from lawful custody, driving while disqualified, criminal damage and two police assaults.

The court heard that Fishwick, who has been held in custody since his arrest, had lived with his partner and their two children at the same address for the past 12 years and was in full-time employment.

Magistrates bailed Fishwick to be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on October 1, on condition that he continues to live at his Poplar Avenue address.