'If you get the bizzies I'll go to jail' – crash driver before fleeing scene
A serial criminal who crashed a stolen car then sped off was caught after the driver whose vehicle he hit took a picture of him before he left the scene.
Keith Pulling was behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Mokka that had been stolen from its owner, who had mobility issues and needed it to get around, in a burglary last January 8.
The mobility vehicle, which was then fitted with number plates stolen from another car, crashed into the back of a car at Commercial Road, Hendon, on February 2, last year.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the other driver noticed Pulling appeared to be intoxicated when they both stopped their vehicles after the smash.
Prosecutor Graham O'Sullivan told the court: "He took photographs of the defendant.
"The defendant said 'if you get the bizzies I'll go to jail".
"The police were contacted.
"The defendant drove off at speed down the back streets."
The court heard the crash caused £400 damage to the other driver's car.
Mr O'Sullivan said later that afternoon a police officer saw Pulling smash one of the stolen Mokka vehicle's windows, seemingly in a bid to break back into it after becoming locked out.
He was arrested and his
fingerprint was found on a bag inside the vehicle and he was linked to the crash
through the photograph that was taken of him at the scene.
The court heard while released
under investigation for the offences, Pulling was caught on CCTV trying the door of a house and two cars while the owner was asleep but made off empty handed.
Pulling, 41, of no fixed address, has convictions for 132 offences.
He admitted failing to stop after an accident, having no insurance, handling stolen goods, criminal damage, attempted burglary and interfering with two vehicles.
Mr Recorder David Brooke QC sentenced him to 27 months behind bars with a four-year road ban.
The judge said he had considered whether a community sentence would be an option but told Pulling: "You are someone with a very, very bad record going back many years. There are too many offences and they are too serious, in the light of your record."