A COUPLE fled from their home in fear with only their clothes, bedding and pets after an angry confrontation with neighbours, a court heard yesterday.

Douglas Corner and his wife, Claire, threw their basic belongings into their car and sped off when they thought a lone police officer could not protect them.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Corner was said to have been worried that one man in the gathering group of neighbours in Billingham would kill him.

He had called police to his home three times after an argument with one of his neighbours - a martial arts exponent - left him worried about his safety.

When only one officer arrived on the third occasion, he took the decision to flee his home in his Chrysler PT Cruiser, his barrister, Richard Bennett, said.

Former security guard Corner, 38, mounted the pavement and drove his car at several of his neighbours before fleeing along the town's Marsh House Avenue.

He refused to stop for a pursuing police car, but finally pulled over on the A178 Seal Sands link road after a chase which reached speeds of more than 80mph.

The court heard that the couple were fleeing back to their former home in Hendon, Sunderland, where they have resettled since the incident on August 9.

Corner, now of Tower Street West, Hendon, admitted charges of dangerous driving, failing to stop for a police officer and using a vehicle without insurance.

He was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with supervision, and was banned from the roads for 18 months by Judge Peter Fox.

The judge told him: "A motor vehicle is a potentially lethal weapon and you used it deliberately to drive at your former friend and, apparently, others.

"I accept they were threatening you, but that's no excuse . . . there must be no repetition.

"Now that you have returned to Hendon, I trust I may be confident of that."

The court heard how neighbours had to jump to safety - while one hid behind a lamppost - as Corner repeatedly mounted pavements and drove straight at them.

Mr Bennett told the court that Corner had not intended to hurt anyone, but simply wanted to frighten them after a mob had surrounded his vehicle and started banging on it.

The row seems to have erupted after Corner posted a message on the social networking site Facebook about one of his neighbours - a former friend.

Mr Bennett said the couple fled in fear and Corner refused to stop the car until he was well away from his neighbourhood because he still feared being attacked.

Since the incident, the Corners' former home has been broken into, and jewellery, electrical items, a television, a video games console and DVDs have been stolen.