A DANGER driver crashed after a police chase around Kendal and then pretended he had not been behind the wheel.

Marcus Houlsworth, 23, came to the attention of police in the town while in a Volkswagen Passat in the early hours of August 4 last year.

Carlisle Crown Court heard there were concerns about his driving, and a PC saw the vehicle mount a kerb.

“He followed it,” prosecutor Gerard Rogerson said. “He illuminated the blue lights and sirens. Still the Passat carried on towards Plumgarth roundabout.”

In giving chase, the officer’s vehicle hit 83mph in a 30mph zone, and 90mph in a 40mph area.

“He (the PC) said the driver appeared to have little control and was driving far too fast for the conditions. It was very dark,” said Mr Rogerson.
Houlsworth lost control and drove on to the roundabout before his vehicle collided with a tree.

“The PC immediately got out of his vehicle and ran to the driver’s side. He said there was no opportunity for anybody to get out of that vehicle,” said Mr Rogerson.

Houlsworth and two females were found sitting in the back seat of the Passat. He tried to put police off the scent by urging the pair to falsely report that another man had been driving before making off - a lie he also initially told.

“He’d said: ‘I’m going to get sent down. Tell the police (that another man) was driving’,” added Mr Rogerson.

Houlsworth - a man with 32 offences to his name - admitted dangerous driving and had never passed his test.

In mitigation Anthony Parkinson said Houlsworth, of Vicars Field, Kendal, was now maturing and that a previously rapid offending rate was slowing down.

“The benefit to him and the benefit to the public at large may be imposing a lengthy (suspended) term of imprisonment that hangs over him,” said Mr Parkinson.

But Judge James Adkin told Houlsworth: “It was incredibly dangerous driving.”
And, jailing him for 210 days, the judge added: “You need to learn the lesson that the rules of the road apply to you. You’re not entitled to drive, and you’re certainly not entitled to drive in the dangerous manner that you did.”