A MAN who led police on a dangerous chase at speeds reaching 125-miles per hour, while over the drink-drive limit, was told there would be “no alternative” to a custodial sentence in his case.

The warning was given to defendant Darren Wild after he was convicted of dangerous driving following a trial at Durham Crown Court.

While there was no argument over the manner of driving,on the A181 and the B1283, between Durham and Sherburn Hill, early on January 28, Wild claimed he was not behind the wheel of his VW Golf, bearing his personalised ‘DAZ’ number plate.

But the court heard the hooded defendant was found hiding under a parked van ten yards from the abandoned, insecure Golf, in Bannerman Terrace, Sherburn Hill, shortly after 4am.

He failed a roadside breath test and was arrested, but made no comment, and after giving further samples at a police station, revealing he was more than double the drink-drive limit, he made no replies in interview.

The 25-year-old defendant, of Crawford Close, Sherburn Village, denied dangerous driving at a plea hearing, in March, and refused to attend a later live identity parade.

A Durham University security guard, who reported seeing the driver of the VW Golf behaving suspiciously in Owengate, in the city, shortly before the chase, failed to pick out Wild on a video identity procedure four months after the incident.

Wild claimed he met an old school friend that night and as he had been drinking, his acquaintance, who was only on soft drinks, agreed to drive to a house party.

He claimed to have been sitting in the back seat during the chase and, after his friend abandoned the car, in Sherburn Hill, he ran off, throwing the keys to Wild.

The defendant said he feared being attacked if he revealed the driver’s identity.

Following 20-minutes’ deliberation, on the second day of the trial, the jury found him guilty of dangerous driving on a unanimous verdict.

Remanding him in custody, until sentence on a date to be arranged, Judge Christopher Prince told Wild: “Nobody who drives a car like this in County Durham, I don’t care who it is, is going to escape a custodial sentence. There’s no alternative to custody.”

The judge also ordered police to seize the VW Golf used in the chase, giving the defence 56 days to argue against its permanent confiscation.