A 19-year-old disqualified driver who reached 100mph in a 30mph zone in Carlisle has been jailed for 14 months after a high-speed police pursuit that ended in a crash near Penrith.

Lewis Naisbitt, 19, of Sunningdale Road, Middlesbrough, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on Friday 6 November. He will also be banned from driving for two years after his release and must pass an extended driving test before he can drive again.

Naisbitt had admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, fraudulent use of a registration mark and failing to comply with a roadside drugs test when he appeared at Carlisle Magistrates' Court on 6 October.

Chase began after patrol car was rammed

The pursuit began at around 7am on 9 September, when a Nissan X-Trail suspected of carrying cloned number plates came to police attention after a report that it had been involved in ramming a patrol vehicle in Scotland. Cumbria officers tried to stop the car after it entered the county on the M6, but the driver did not comply and headed into Carlisle at junction 43.

Police said the car was driven along Warwick Road at more than 60mph in a 30mph zone, then turned onto Eastern Way, where it accelerated to more than 80mph, weaving through traffic and through red lights. On London Road it reached 100mph on a road with a 30mph limit, narrowly avoiding a collision with oncoming traffic.

Prosecutor Matthew Hopkins told the court that dashcam footage showed schoolchildren standing on the pavement as the car passed them at that speed. The vehicle then returned to the M6, travelling south at between 100mph and 115mph and undertaking other vehicles using the hard shoulder while officers tried to bring traffic to a standstill.

Stinger brought the pursuit to an end

Officers deployed a stinger device as the car left the motorway at junction 41 near Penrith, bursting its tyres. The pursuit ended near Stoneybeck, where the damaged vehicle struck the front of a stationary heavy goods vehicle. The driver of a second lorry was forced to take evasive action.

Naisbitt then left the car and tried to flee on foot, but officers caught him after only a few metres.

Defence barrister Scarlett Wilson told the sentencing hearing that her client had little recollection of the incident after taking pregabalin and cannabis, and that he was embarrassed by his actions and troubled by the injuries they could have caused.

Judge Nicholas Barker described the incident as an appalling episode of dangerous driving and said Naisbitt had placed lives at risk through his determination to evade police. He said the seriousness of the driving required an immediate custodial sentence.

Chief Inspector Sam Turner said the driver's behaviour was incredibly reckless and could easily have resulted in serious injury to himself and others. He said the guilty pleas came at the end of Operation Spotlight, a road safety operation aimed at young drivers who drive dangerously.