South Shields engineer led police on a Benny Hill-style chase before being arrested and fined £330.
“It could be described as being like Benny Hill, where he ran away and police chased.”
An engineering student created a Benny Hill-type TV comedy scene in giving a policeman the runaround in Sunderland city centre, a court heard.
Syed Ahmed, 29, escaped twice from the grasp of a PC attempting to detain him outside a club in Holmeside on Saturday, February 21.
Ahmed, of Ferry Street, South Shields, was eventually forced to the ground and arrested, prosecutor Glenda Beck said.
But it then became no laughing matter after he was taken to a holding cell at Sunderland’s Southwick police station – and spat.
The disgusting mess he made cost Northumbria Police £50 to clean up and led to him being charged with causing criminal damage.
At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, Ahmed pleaded guilty to that offence and resisting arrest.
District Judge Zoe Passfield described his criminal record of inflicting damage as “dreadful” and told him he had a habit of leaving a mess for others to clean up.
Mrs Beck said: “The defendant had been arrested for other matters. When the officer tried to speak to him, he began running in the opposite direction.
“The officer attempted to restrain him, but he still tried to run away when the officer attempted to get the handcuffs on him.
“The officer chased him again and he was restrained on the ground and arrested. He was taken into police custody.
“While in a cell, he was spitting, which resulted in the cell having to be cleaned.”
Alastair Naismith, defending, said Ahmed was jailed in December and came out in January.
Mr Naismith added: “Since then, he has tried to get his life back on track. He goes to college and is getting married.
“Police attended about a different incident. It could be described as being like Benny Hill, where he ran away and police chased.
“He’s made the officer look a bit silly to those in a club. He accepts that he shouldn’t have run.
“These offences were more stupid than being anything of a criminogenic nature.
“They do tend to be damage to similar things – police vehicles and police cells. He is trying to stop and doesn’t want to go back to prison.”
Judge Passfield fined Ahmed £200 for causing criminal damage and £80 for obstructing the officer, with £50 compensation to Northumbria Police.
There were no court costs.