A ‘wild and uncontrolled’ driver who led police on a high-speed car chase before crashing into a wall has been jailed for 18 months.

Peter McCauley, of Rhyddings Street, Oswaldtwistle, was told to pull over by officers in an unmarked police car after they spotted him braking frequently.

However, the 21-year-old ‘panicked’ and drove off at speed leading police on a dangerous siren chase, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Emma Kehoe, prosecuting, told the court how McCauley travelled at high speed and was at one time on ‘two wheels’.

Police eventually lost sight of the car, but it was later found crashed into a wall on Blackburn Road in Rawtenstall by a member of the public.

Officers traced the vehicle to a house in Haslingden and found McCauley hiding in the attic inside a sleeping bag, the court heard.

Former window fitter McCauley pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident, driving without insurance and breaching a suspended sentence order.

Daniel King, defending, said McCauley showed a ‘ridiculous sense of immaturity and a lack of responsibility’.

Mr King also told the court how the father-of-one had a ‘very unsettled childhood’ but was making ‘considerable progress’ in complying with a suspended sentence order.

He told the court: “He was out drinking with a friend and decided to take over the responsibility of driving after his friend had drunk too much. A car that wasn’t a marked police car pulled up, he had no idea who it was and panicked and drove off.”

Recorder Roderick Carus QC sentenced McCauley to nine months for the driving offences and another nine months for the breach of the suspended sentence.

He said: “This was a bad piece of driving. It was wild and uncontrolled and lasted for nearly two miles. A number of junctions were navigated and at one stage on two wheels. The speed was excessive. You then abandoned the car which had been caused damage and fled.”