Drunken boy racer led police on 70mph chase through Wigan streets

During the seven-mile early hours chase, Jake Needle was also seen to drive the Renault Laguna on the wrong side of the road and fly through traffic lights at red before his high-performance car came to grief.

Even then the 28-year-old of Wyre Avenue, Platt Bridge, scrambled free from the wreckage and fled on foot, Bolton Crown Court was told.

But officers with tracker dogs continued the pursuit and eventually found him cowering in a water-filled ditch.

This week Needle was given a six-month prison sentence after admitting to dangerous driving and drink-driving, but the judge suspended the term for 12 months.

Prosecutors said that at 1am on Saturday October 3 this year police were in a marked patrol vehicle travelling north on Platt Street, Platt Bridge, when Needle’s white Laguna pulled out of Sherwood Way at the roundabout and almost hit them.

The officers signalled for the car to stop but it accelerated away and the patrol gave chase. The court was told that Needle drove down Warrington Road towards Golborne at speeds of up to 70mph in a 30mph zone.

He then reached 75mph on the 40mph-limited Lowton Road while weaving across the road into the oncoming lane.

On reaching the East Lancashire Road, he went straight through a red automatic traffic signal.

And on Main Lane in the Warrington village of Croft, 10 minutes after the start of the chase, his luck ran out and the Laguna smashed into a telegraph pole.

The judge heard that Needle ran away but a police dog eventually tracked him from the car to a ditch nearby and he was arrested.

When breathalysed he gave a reading of 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Fortunately no pedestrians or other vehicle occupants were injured during the case, the court was told.

As well as the suspended prison sentence, Needle was given a 15-month driving disqualification (back-dated to November 11 when magistrates had imposed an interim ban when he admitted his crimes) after which he will have to take an extended driving test in order to take to the roads legitimately again.

The judge also ordered he attend 15 sessions of a course for drink-impaired drivers and complete 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

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