Danger driver posed for picture on stolen Jaguar
A danger driver is behind bars after he posted a picture of himself on Facebook posing on the bonnet of a stolen £20,000 Jaguar with the personalised registration plate replaced with the word "wild".
Mark French had got away from police by driving the stolen luxury motor, at speed, over a pedestrianised grassed area when he was seen behind the wheel on January 26.
Newcastle Crown Court heard when officers caught up with him the following week and seized his phone, they found damning photographic evidence that proved the banned 27-year-old had been driving the Jaguar, which was stolen on January 17.
Prosecutor Emma Dow ling told the court: "Footage on the telephone showed the defendant driving the vehicle.
"During the course of the footage, the defendant seemed to be driving at excessive speed, using his mobile phone when driving.
"The defendant had posted on the evening of January 23 to Facebook a picture of himself and another male sitting on the bonnet of the Jaguar with the numberplate over written with the word 'wild'."
The court heard officers had spotted the stolen motor, which was then bearing cloned number plates, near Tesco at Roker Retail Park in Sunderland on January 26.
Miss Dow ling said :" In essence, the car was being drivenrelatively normally until he realised the police car was following him.
"It then sped up, through residential areas, failing to give way at roundabouts and through a section of roadworks before taking a sharp left and disappearing down an alley and across a grassed area where motor vehicles clearly should not be going."
The court heard police abandoned the chase when the car turned onto the grassed area, but tracked down French when they viewed CCTV.
The car was eventually recovered but had some damage.
French, of Burdon Lane, Sunderland, admitted handling stolen goods, dangerous driving, driving whiled is qualified and having no insurance.
The court heard French already has a record for driving offences. Mr Recorder David Brooke QC sentenced him to 27 months behind bars with a three-year road ban.
The judge told him: "Footage from the mobile phone recovered showed you had the car in your possession some days before the dangerous driving."