A BARMAID'S stolen purse led police on a 150-mile chase to recapture an escaped prisoner, a court was told yesterday.

Helen Maughan's purse was stolen from the private quarters at the Spotted Dog, at High Coniscliffe, Darlington, and then she discovered her L-registration Peugeot had also vanished from the car park.

Police switched the search to the M62 when they received a report that a Peugeot was parked on the hard shoulder near Wakefield with the driver asleep, said David Scutt, prosecuting.

By the time a patrol arrived it had gone, but it was spotted by a Greater Manchester patrol team, who took up the chase.

The court heard that the car was seen racing through a 30mph zone at 60mph, and through three red lights at up to 70mph, before heading down a narrow residential street, which was a dead end.

The police air support unit was also called into action for the chase. The car drove through factory gates where the driver abandoned it, Teesside Crown Court was told.

The driver was identified as Robert Coxon, 25, who had absconded two days earlier from Wealdstone Prison, London, within hours of being transferred to its open wing from Haverigg Prison, Cumbria.

He had been sentenced to two years in jail at Chester Crown Court five months earlier.

Coxon admitted that during the drive he had taken drugs. He had been convicted of 125 offences since 1991. He said that he escaped from prison because he had served his sentence at five jails, each one further away from his Cheshire home.

Judge Leslie Spittle told Coxon: "Your reason for leaving the prison may be one thing, but what you did when you got out is another."

The car was damaged when it was recovered.

Coxon, of Lancaster Park, Chester, pleaded guilty to escape on November 30, burglary at the Spotted Dog on December 1, aggravated vehicle-taking and dangerous driving.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail consecutive to his present sentence and was disqualified from driving for three years.