A TEENAGER who led police on a high-speed chase after they tried to stop him for driving without insurance has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Kyle Thompson, 19, appeared before a judge at Preston Crown Court where he was sentenced for driving offences.

At an earlier hearing Blackburn Magistrates Court heard Kyle Thompson’s Audi A3 reached 90mph and shot several red lights before he crashed into a garden wall.

Thompson, 19, of Haworth Street, Rishton, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance and other than in accordance with a licence.

Enza Geldard, prosecuting, said police saw the Audi travelling towards Rishton from Whitebirk at 2am on November 23 and their onboard computer revealed it was not insured. Mrs Geldard said: “Instead of stopping when the officers illuminated their lights it accelerated away towards Rishton, at one point doing 93mph in a 30mph zone.”

In the centre of Rishton the car turned into Walmsley Street and raced through the side streets before re-emerging onto Blackburn Road, heading back towards Blackburn.

It went through red lights when it reached Whitebirk roundabout and was doing 60mph on the wrong side of the road up Burnley Road. The pursuit continued in Accrington Road, Higher Audley Street, Bennington Street, Haslingden Road and Rockliffe Street, before Thompson hit a wall in Pritchard Street, the court heard.

Colleen Dickinson-Jones, defending, said there were many aggravating features in the case and she didn’t believe she could persuade the magistrates their sentencing powers were adequate.

Therefore the case was sent before Recorder Andrew McLoughlin at the crown court. He sentenced Thompson to six months in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for two years, and banned him from driving for 18 months.

Mr McLoughlin also imposed a three-month curfew, banning Thompson from leaving his home between 9pm and 7am, with 150 hours’ unpaid work, £500 compensation and a £115 statutory surcharge.

The Lancashire Telegraph is running a campaign, Stop The Madness, calling for, among other things, tougher sentences for drivers who put other people’s lives at risk.