A POLICE officer suffered a broken finger as he arrested a teenager who had been involved in taking a car.

Blackburn magistrates heard Haydon Lishman had been a passenger in the car as it crashed into a parked vehicle shortly after it had been taken without consent.

The court was told he kicked out at the arresting officer and had to be pepper sprayed to gain compliance.

Lishman, 19, of Clover Hill Road, Nelson, pleaded guilty to being carried in a car taken without consent and was convicted after trial of assaulting an emergency worker.

He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months and banned from driving for 12 months. He was ordered to pay £300 compensation to the police officer.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said the car owner realised her keys and car were missing after she had her ex-partner's son at her house for a few drinks.

The car was involved in a collision with a neighbour's vehicle before being driven off.

"The car was driven by someone who has already been dealt with and the defendant was the passenger," said Miss Allan.

The car was spotted at the end of the motorway and Lishman was arrested and placed in the back of a police car.

"He began violently head butting the window and when the door was opened he began kicking out a the officer catching him on the hand," said Miss Allan.

"He was pepper sprayed before being placed in the back of a van."

Ivan Dickinson, defending, said since the incident in April his client had got his first ever job.

"The job has kept him away from drink and drugs and he is desperate to be able to continue the progress he is making in his life," said Mr Dickinson.