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A chuckling joker told police he was the late racing driver Colin McRae after officers chased his van through an underpass.

Adam Robinson, 22, towed a stolen trailer as he mounted a public footpath trying to flee officers. He was pursued on Middlesbrough Road, went over a car park and into a pedestrianised area.

He drove his Mercedes van through the underpass towards Asda in South Bank at 6.40pm on October 6 last year.

He sped at 40 to 50mph as he moved on to Nelson Street, Tilbury Road and Station Road.

He came to an abrupt halt at gates on King George Terrace and got out of the van. He went through the nearby travellers’ site, where he lived, towards Dockside Road.

A police helicopter was called to help search for the missing motorist, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He was caught hiding on an embankment next to the railway line, said prosecutor Yvonne Taylor yesterday.

Robinson said “I’m Colin McRae” and laughed when he was arrested.

He added: “I didn’t stop because I’m banned, aren’t I? It’s my van though. It’s not nicked.” He later said: “You’re lucky I stopped. I was going to drive straight into my caravan.”

Police had been on the lookout for the van and first saw it in front of them on Normanby Road. Robinson did stop for the officers’ lights and sirens.

Luckily no pedestrians were around, no other drivers had to avoid Robinson’s van and the Asda supermarket was closed on the Sunday night.

The £200 trailer had been stolen from Wilton village the previous evening.

Robinson said he’d bought it from someone he wouldn’t name and planned to sell it on.

He said he was “mooching about” in the van when he saw the officers.

He admitted dangerous driving, handling stolen goods, driving while disqualified, having no insurance and failing to stop for police. He was serving a community order with a three-year driving ban at the time and had previous convictions for aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving.

Robert Mochrie, defending, said: “At the very least nobody was injured or put in immediate danger. I accept that’s perhaps a matter of luck and good fortune on Mr Robinson’s behalf. He sees the error of his ways. He wants to be a father to his two young children.”

He said Robinson could behave himself but went “off the rails” after splitting from his girlfriend. Now Robinson was reconciled with his partner and he had a labouring job offer.

Mr Mochrie asked for a community sentence, saying the six months Robinson had already served inside on remand - equal to a one-year term - was punishment enough.

The judge, Recorder Richard Woolfall, told Robinson: “This was a serious episode of dangerous driving. It’s not the worst of its kind but you were deliberately trying to evade the police. You were knowingly disqualified and you were towing a stolen trailer. This was flagrant disregard of the court order. ”

He said Robinson was young and naive but the crimes were too serious for him to avoid prison.

He jailed Robinson for 14 months and banned him from driving for three years, saying it would not be long before he was released.