Keep Death Off The Roads...

...suspend Recorder David Hatton now.

As noted here by Leg-Iron, the extraordinary lengths you can go to and still not get a prison sentence from the cretin:

Prosecutor Geoff Mason told the court that the trail of destruction started when a VW Passat was rammed by a car in the Benwell area of the city on November 9 last year.

As the owner got out to chase two men, others jumped into the man's Passat and drove it away.

Later that night, a police officer spotted the stolen car with Lawson driving and, when he tried to pull it over, he put his foot down and accelerated away.

He then lost control, mounted a pavement and just avoided slamming into some houses.

A police car tried to box the car in but he rammed it, forcing it backwards down the road.

It was then spotted travelling on the wrong side of the road round a blind bend with no lights on doing 60mph.

Lawson again lost control and missed hitting another police car by inches.

He then drove at 90mph on the wrong side of the A695 dual carriageway, still with no lights.

Lawson then pulled a hand-brake turn, causing another collision with a police car and a dogs van.

A stinger device was then used to stop the VW Passat, which by now had its bumper hanging off.

Two police officers were also hurt in the incident at Blaydon, Gateshead. One of them needed physiotherapy to chest and back injuries.

One police dog suffered a broken back and had to be put down, while two others were injured.

Lawson, of Prudhoe, was found to be three times over the drink-drive limit during the car chase...

And yet his sentence, handed down by Recorder David Hatton, was a mere 12 months imprisonment. Suspended.

Why? First time offence? No, of course not:

Lawson gained notoriety in his teens when he terrorised his neighbourhood in Newcastle as part of the 'Scotswood Hoodies' gang.

The then 16-year-old and four of his cronies were slapped with ASBOs banning them from wearing hoods and entering certain areas.

It seems this particular judge has a bit of a blind spot where motoring offences are concerned:

Paul Millican travelled at speed from Finchale Road in Hebburn to Wardley Lane, Gateshead, on a £950 bike he had bought just weeks before but had no licence to drive.

His dangerous driving was captured on the Northumbria Police helicopter's CCTV recording device.

The footage, played at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, shows the 23-year-old speeding across fields and over people's lawns in a bid to get away on August 22 last year.

Mr Recorder David Hatton sentenced Millican, of Gladstone Street, Hebburn, to a community order for 12 months with 150 hours' unpaid work and a 12-month driving ban.

The judge said; "Because you have no previous convictions for driving or motoring, it is not a case which, in my judgement, needs to be met with a prison sentence.

Which rather begs the question, just what you do have to do to warrant a prison sentence from this fool?