A judge told the weeping partner of a dangerous driver he sentenced over a police chase in a stolen car, "if he starts again, kick him out". The woman, sobbing in the public gallery as James Clark was sentenced, thanked Judge Stuart Rafferty KC as he spared her partner, a father-of-three, jail.
With gritted teeth, said the judge, he was not going to keep Clark locked up - but if he sees him again within two years of a suspended sentence, he will go to jail. Clark, of Honiton Road, near Strelley, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, aggravated-vehicle taking, possessing of cocaine and driving without insurance.
Officers tried to stop him in a stolen blue Ford Fiesta, with cloned plates, speeding along Arnold Road, near Nottingham City Hospital. He drove to Padstow Road, on the Bestwood Estate, and did a three-point turn, driving towards a police vehicle.
