AN engineer’s labourer who led police on a high-speed chase through Burnley, going the wrong way down a one-way street, was told by a judge he could have killed someone.

Lewis Jorgensen, 22, “panicked” when asked to pull over by police and ended up driving at speeds of around 70mph in residential areas before crashing into a kerb and running off, the town’s Crown Court was told.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But there was little chance of Jorgensen escaping justice as the Ford Fiesta van used in the chase was insured in his name and he later went to collect it from a garage after it was impounded.

Passing sentence, Judge Beverley Lunt said: “How you did not hit anyone is not down to you — it was because the other people were driving extremely well that night. You could have killed someone. You were driving at 70mph in a 30mph limit and if anyone steps out from between those cars then that is it.”

The judge told the court that because Jorgensen had no previous convictions and had pleaded guilty, he did not have to go to prison immediately.

The defendant, of Langdale Road, Padiham, admitted dangerous driving and was given a 12-month prison term, suspended for two years, with £300 costs and a £150 criminal courts charge. He was banned from driving for a year and must take an extended retest before he is allowed back on the roads.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, said the incident began when an officer on patrol in Burnley town centre saw Jorgensen’s van driven the wrong way down Yorke Street.

Shirlie Duckworth, defending, said her client had panicked when initially asked to pull over by police and accepted that his driving had been unacceptable.