Legless driver in 80mph car chase

A double amputee has been jailed for a year after leading police on a high-speed car pursuit, using modified broom handles to control the vehicle.

The three-mile chase ended when Robert Bate crashed through a fence near Hawthorn, County Durham, in January.



When officers examined his automatic Vauxhall Astra they found the wooden poles taped to the pedals.

Bate, 27, of Seventh Street, Blackhall, admitted dangerous driving when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court.

Bate, who lost his legs in a rail accident when he was aged nine, had traces of heroin and cocaine in his blood at the time of the incident.