South Shields drug dealer rammed police in stolen pick-up truck during 100mph chase

George Skelton, 45, from South Shields, who is also a convicted robber, represented himself when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court over a videolink from Northumbria Prison where he was coming to the end of a 45-month sentence for possession of heroin with intent to supply Class A drugs

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving of a stolen pick-up truck with cloned plates on August 25, 2019, for which police were on the lookout on the A66 in North Yorkshire.

A police unit followed the red Isuzu when it approached Scotch Corner, said prosecutor Kate Barnes.

Other officers had laid a Stinger tyre-shredding device on the roadway but Skelton avoided it by driving onto the pavement and went through red lights up the A1M at up to 100mph, undercutting other traffic as he drove along the hard shoulder.

He slowed to 20mph before ramming an unmarked police car and again reached 100mph before turning off towards Barnard Castle at 60MPH on a B-road.

He drove twice around a roundabout the wrong way before crashing through roadworks barriers in Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, and colliding with a Mercedes and another car

The initial police driver pulled up behind Skelton who was trying to reverse to continue the chase and he blocked his escape, said Miss Barnes. He made no comment when he was arrested.

Skelton had 53 convictions for 68 offences starting as a juvenile and he is currently serving a 45 months jail sentence imposed at Newcastle Crown Court on 27 January 2020 for possession of heroin with intent to supply.

He told the judge that he was married with two teenage children and that he was due for release from that sentence next week

Skelton, of Cook Close, South Shields, was jailed for eight months to run concurrently with his existing sentence and disqualified for two years and four months and until he passes an extended driving test, after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving

The judge Recorder David Gordon told him that he would probably be released in time for Christmas.

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