Speeding along residential streets; crashing into innocent road users or swerving down highways under the influence of drink or drugs, these criminal drivers put the public at risk when they broke the rules of the road.
Over the past two months, courts in Newcastle, Durham and Northumberland have passed judgement on a number of drivers. From driving while uninsured and disqualified to offences of dangerous driving, they found themselves in court after causing collisions or being caught by police.
Punishments ranged from time in prison to unpaid work, but all had their licences stripped from them for set periods of time. Some banned drivers are also ordered to take an extended test before they're allowed to drive again.
Read more: Drunk driver caught twice in 4 years after travelling at speed through Cowgate
Here are some of the cases of road menaces that we reported on in March and April 2022:
Malcolm Kennedy
This banned driver led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Peterlee before skidding to a halt and fleeing on foot. Malcolm Kennedy fled police in a Vauxhall Corsa when they tried to pull him over on February 28.
The 41-year-old had only recently been released from prison for other driving offences and was disqualified from driving for four years at the time.
Kennedy led officers on a high-speed pursuit where he hit speeds of up to 70mph in 30mph zones and mounted kerbs and went the wrong way round a roundabout. The chase finally ended in a cul-de-sac, with an officer having to draw a Taser before he surrendered. A roadside test found that Kennedy had cocaine in his system, but he refused to provide further samples when taken to the police station.
Kennedy, of Marine Crescent, Blackhall Colliery, appeared at Durham Crown Court in March via link from HMP Durham to be sentenced for dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, failing to provide a sample, and driving without a licence or insurance.
The court was told Kennedy had 35 previous convictions for 86 offences, including a "long history" of driving matters dating back to 1998. In November, last year, he was given an 18-week prison sentence and banned from driving for four years for driving whilst disqualified and refusing to provide a specimen.
Judge Robert Spragg branded Kennedy a "prolific offender" and jailed him for 14 months. Kennedy was also banned from driving for four years and seven months, and he will have to do an extended driving test.
Zenel Skenderaj
This dangerous driver collided with a car being driven by an 89-year-old woman as he tried to flee police during a chase. Zenel Skenderaj was behind the wheel of a Range Rover Sport with no licence or insurance and smelling of cannabis when police spotted him in the West End of Newcastle.
In March, Newcastle Crown Court heard officers were on Scotswood Bridge around 9pm on January 8 when they formed the view the car might have been on false plates.
After officers activated their lights and sirens to indicate for him to pull over, he initially appeared to be stopping but then sped off. As he overtook cars and drove into oncoming traffic, he struck the pensioner's Vauxhall Corsa. The court heard the lady was left "shocked" "upset" and "scared".
The Corsa was left scraped down the side but the pensioner didn't claim on her insurance, fearing financial loss. Skenderaj also drove on the wrong side of the road and went the wrong way around a roundabout
Soon afterwards, Skenderaj abandoned the car and he and his passenger fled. However the police helicopter had been deployed and saw he had hidden under a vehicle.
Skenderaj, 23, of Strathmore Crescent, Benwell, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen, having no insurance and no licence and resisting a police officer. He was jailed for 10 months and will be banned for two years following his release.
Michael Logue
This brazen drink driver was caught after he made the foolish decision to pull up outside a police station to pick up an arrested friend. Michael Logue was initially thought to be a cabbie when he was spotted in his Ford Puma outside Forth Banks, in Newcastle.
However, when approached by an officer, it soon became apparent he was drunk and he was asked to switch his car's engine off.
A court heard that the 41-year-old immediately began to reverse in a bid to flee, but was stopped when the constable stood in his path. Logue then repeatedly refused to get out the car until back-up officers arrived and he was taken inside the police station and arrested.
Inside, he failed a breath test, giving a reading of 94mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35.
Logue, of Yewvale Road, in Blakelaw, Newcastle, was this month banned from the roads for 36 months after he clocked-up his second drink driving offence in seven years when he pleaded guilty at Newcastle Magistrates' Court. As well as the ban, Logue was given a 12-month community order and must do 120 hours of unpaid work.
Corey Gray
This drunken Amazon delivery driver sparked a dangerous police chase after being caught over the limit at McDonald's - then did a similar thing weeks later while banned and on bail.
Police were called to the drive-through of the fast food outlet in South Shields after concerns Corey Gray was over the limit in his work van. He tried to get away from the chasing police car, driving at speed and dangerously with just one hand on the wheel for most of the pursuit.
Newcastle Crown Court heard this month that he was then spotted driving a car by the same sergeant who had arrested him the first time, after he had appeared in court and been given an interim disqualification while his case progressed through the system. He again failed to stop and sparked a chase then refused to give a breath test when collared.
The 23-year-old, of Canterbury Street, South Shields, was given a suspended prison sentence after he admitted two counts of dangerous driving, excess alcohol, failing to provide a specimen, driving while disqualified and no insurance.
Judge Stephen Earl sentenced Gray to 12 months suspended for two years with a six-month curfew, driving ban and alcohol treatment requirement.
Wayne Dodds
This Consett drug-driver was banned from getting behind the wheel after using a van like "a weapon", leading police on a high-speed chase before smashing head-on into a car.
Wayne Dodds had a cocktail of four different drugs in his system when he took off from police after they attempted to pull him over on June 28, last year. The 38-year-old uninsured driver, who had morphine and cannabis in his system, was in a Transit van when he led police on the chase through County Durham.
The pursuit got so dangerous the police aborted the chase for safety reasons, with Dodds finally being arrested after being involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle and causing injuries to an innocent motorist. When police caught up with Dodds, he was described as "frothing at the mouth" and told officers he'd "injected heroin".
The van belonged to a Consett delivery business Dodds had been employed by, but it was only insured to be driven on delivery days. The court heard that Dodds, who had 30 previous convictions for 63 offences, did not have permission to be driving the van on that day. Following tests, Dodds was also found to have drugs including morphine and cannabis in his system.
Dodds appeared at Durham Crown Court this month to be sentenced for dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving whilst unfit through drugs, and driving without insurance. He pleaded guilty to the charges at a previous hearing.
Sentencing Dodds, of Church Street, Consett, Judge Ray Singh, said he had taken a "cocktail of at least four different types of drugs" and drove the van "almost as if it was a weapon". Dodds was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for three years, which was extended by seven months.
Christopher John Nash
This road menace caused serious injury to a police officer after smashing head-on into his car during a County Durham chase.
Christopher John Nash took off from police when they attempted to pull him over in Peterlee in the early hours of June 17, last year. But the 41-year-old led them on a high-speed chase, hitting speeds of up to 100mph.
The pursuit finally came to an abrupt end when Nash crashed head-on into a police car, knocking one of the officers unconscious and breaking his wrist. The crash was so severe, both police officers had to be cut out of their car. When Nash was caught, a roadside test showed he'd been taking cocaine, but he refused to give a blood sample back at the station.
Nash, 41, appeared at Durham Crown Court in March to be sentenced for causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving without insurance or a licence, and refusing to provide a sample. He had pleaded guilty to the charges at a previous hearing.
Both police officers involved in the crash had to go to hospital, with one sustaining a broken wrist and tissue damage - he also "walked with a limp" for a period of time following the crash. In a victim statement, the officer said he suffers from flashbacks and had to resign from the police support unit as a result.
The court heard that Nash, whose address is listed as HMP Durham, had 16 previous convictions for 33 offences, including drug driving matters dating back to 2016.
Sentencing Nash, Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, said he was driving at "grossly excessive speed" and that the impact of his offending "has been significant". Nash was jailed for 26 months and banned from driving for three years.
Claire Crawford
This dangerous drink driver left her friend seriously injured by crashing and flipping over her van while she was sitting on the floor in the back.
Claire Crawford had been drinking rum with the victim and other friends when she decided to drive to a social club in Newcastle. A court heard the van didn't have seats in the back and the woman was sitting on the floor.
As Crawford drove at almost twice the speed limit in Scotswood, she lost control and smashed into a lamp-post. The woman was left with serious injuries, including fractured and shattered bones in her jaw, a fractured finger, two fractured vertebrae in her neck, three fractured vertebrae in her spine and a ruptured spleen.
In March, Crawford, 40, of Shafto Street, Scotswood, who was badly hurt herself in the crash, was given a suspended prison sentence at Newcastle Crown Court. At the time of the offence she was found to be almost two times the drink drive limit.
A collision report found she was driving at between 56mph and 60mph on the 30mph road. The van was found to have the wrong size front tyres, which were also different sizes. One tyre had cord showing and another was under-inflated.
Crawford, who has old convictions for possessing amphetamine, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol. She was sentenced to 21 months suspended for two years with a four month curfew between 7pm and 7am. She was also banned from driving for 18 months and must pay £1,000 costs.
