A JUDGE has branded a Wilmslow man 'a menace' as he sentenced him to serve 12 months in prison for dangerous driving.

He told Aaron Lee Paton, of Dean Row Road, the incident had been aggravated by the fact he had been disqualified from driving just six months earlier and was also over the drink drive limit.

37-year-old Paton was appearing at Chester Crown Court for sentencing having already pleaded guilty to the three charges and another for driving with no insurance at an earlier hearing at Stockport Magistrates Court.

Judge Patrick Thomson told Paton he knew he was disqualified when he decided to get behind the wheel of a Mini Cooper in Stockport on December 7 last year.

Jemma Gordon, prosecuting, told the court how Greater Manchester Police had been responding to a call of two males making off from police in the early hours when they came across Paton sat in the Mini Cooper.

She said: "He failed to co-operate with the officers, telling them his name was Alan and that he was waiting for his girlfriend.

"As the officers went back to their vehicle to make some further checks, the Mini suddenly sped off."

Police drove after Paton, and a ten minute pursuit ensued with the Mini clocked doing speeds ranging between 45-60mph in 30mph zones, as well as driving through a give way junction without stopping.

Ms Gordon went on: "When he did come to a stop, he got out of the car and ran down an alleyway before he was found by the officers hiding in the front garden of a home.

"The car was found to be carrying false registration plates, but additional checks were made and the car was tracked back to Paton's home address."

Paton was breathalysed by officers, giving a reading of 63mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, which is almost twice over the drink drive limit of 35mg/100ml.

She went to say how Paton, a father of three, had 14 previous convictions for 25 offences, including being banned from driving just six months earlier by Magistrates in Manchester on June 24.

Betsy Hindle, defending, said her client did not dispute the facts presented and was not blind to how the offences appeared to the court.

She went on to say Paton had also been handed a 12 month community order when he was disqualified from driving in June and how on the night in question had been having an argument with his girlfriend so removed himself from the situation by sitting in his car.

"He told me he just sat in the car and when the police arrived and spoke to him he just panicked and drove off," she explained.

"He knew he was under the terms of the community order and that he'd also been drinking.

"In hindsight, he knows what he did that night has only served to make things worse."

Ms Hindle went on to say how her client had previously served a custodial sentence, but how that had been more than a decade ago, with the arrival of Paton's three children having a big influence on his life.

Telling Paton the sole purpose of his job was to protect the public, Judge Thompson said his actions that night could have potentially had 'tragic consequences' for an innocent party.

"You had been disqualified in June and just six months later you were behind the wheel again.

"Not only were you disqualified from driving, but you got into the car knowing you'd been drinking.

"You then drove dangerously during a ten minute pursuit by police officers.

"The consequences could have been tragic for an innocent member of the public driving on the same road as you that night.

"It is people like you on the road that are a menace to the public.

"The only sentence justified in this case is an immediate custodial sentence."

Judge Thompson reduced Paton's sentence by a third because of his early guilty plea, handing him a 12 month term for the dangerous driving offence, while he was given four month sentences for both the driving while disqualified offence and for drink driving, which will be served concurrently.

There was no separate penalty for driving with no insurance and Paton was also banned from the road for three and a half years.