Disqualified driver handed suspended sentence following pursuit

John Bentley was clocked by Durham Road and Armed Policing officers driving a motorbike through Ferryhill in May, and a pursuit began.

 

Motorcycle Section soon joined as the 20-year-old drove dangerously on the wrong side of the road with oncoming traffic and at one point started to remove his helmet in the hope officers would abandon the pursuit – they didn’t.

 

The bike was stopped shortly afterwards with Bentley abandoning his passenger and fleeing on foot.

 

Unfortunately for him, Bentley was identified by PC Simpson who called him on the phone and told him he’d been clocked and to return to the scene.

 

Bentley, of St Helen Auckland, was subsequently arrested for driving offences and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, disqualified driving, failing to stop, fraudulently using a registration plate and driving without insurance when he appeared at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on September 11.

 

He was sentenced to five months in custody, suspended for two years, fined £266, ordered to pay court costs and disqualified from driving for two years. He must pass an extended test to get his licence back.

 

PC Simpson said: “Bentley seemed to think that his reckless driving would force us to abandon the pursuit, but our first aim is always to protect the public and we won’t stop until dangerous drivers like him are taken off our roads.

 

“We will continue to keep a close eye on Bentley and criminals like him, so we can put him straight back before the court should he choose to break the law again.”