Lancashire Police used stinger to stop drunken van driver in high speed chase in Blackburn

When officers finally brought the late-night pursuit to a halt the white Transit's four tyres driven by Mark Moorcroft were in shreds and he was found to be around two-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit.

The 38-year-old, who was on a suspended prison sentence at the time, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was jailed for a total of 15 months. He was also banned from driving for five years.

Judge Paul Hodgkinson told him: “You deliberately chose to ignore the rules of the road and put others in peril.

“Your ability to control that vehicle was restricted significantly because it was on four (wheel) rims. You did everything you could to evade capture.”

The court was shown dashcam footage of the 15-minute pursuit from a police car tailing Moorcroft as he weaved his way around residential streets in Blackburn at around 1:45am.

At one point, when he drove into a dead end, he tried to reverse into police vehicles as they attempted to block his escape. He got away and was seen on camera squeezing between bollards and railings, down a grassy slope into a park, along back alleys and ignoring “give way” signs. He drove on the opposite carriageway and also narrowly missed a cyclist.

When the spiked stinger was deployed across the road in front of him it deflated all four of his tyres. Yet he continued, refusing to stop and driving on the metal wheel rims.

When it slowed to a crawl a police officer from another chasing car tried to smash the van window with his baton, but Moorcroft trundled on despite being unable to fully control the van.

The video footage finally showed his vehicle being brought to a stop surrounded by police cars. He was dragged from the cab and arrested.

Moorcroft sat in the dock with his head in his hands as the footage was played to the court.

Judge Hodgkinson was told he refused to take a breath test at the scene but was later tested at the police station and found to have at least 89 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35.

Moorcroft, of Stanley Range, Blackburn, was said to have 30 previous convictions on his record, some of them driving offences. He was disqualified at the time of his arrest after admitting aggravated vehicle taking.

Barrister Lewis Bocking, defending, said his client had been suffering from a “significant mental health crisis” when he committed the latest offences. He had been under significant pressure over the last two years following the breakdown of a long-standing relationship.

Moorcroft, he said, was trying to deal with his issues and address his addiction to alcohol and drugs.

“It’s not an excuse for his actions,” he added. “This is a man who was spiralling, and this was the climax. He is genuinely sorry.”

Judge Hodgkinson said driving offences littered Moorcroft’s record. He had shown a “complete disregard for the rules of the road”.

He told him: “You have a dreadful record . . . of serious assaults, drugs offences and driving offences.”

The judge said he had chosen to ignore the chance he had been given with the suspended sentence he received for aggravated vehicle taking in April 2024.

His driving had been “prolonged and persistent and highly impaired by alcohol”.

“You have a dreadful list of previous convictions, and you were subject to a court order (suspended sentence) when you committed these offences.”

He sentenced Moorcroft to 14 months for dangerous driving, added another month for the breach of a suspended sentence and made no further penalty for driving without insurance and a driving licence.

But he told him it was not a case where he could consider suspending this sentence in the light of his past record.

His five-year driving ban will come into force when he is released from prison.