'I'm a lucky boy': Cannabis-smoking driver who sped wrong way up dual carriageway during police chase walks free from court  

The 27-year-old admitted dangerous driving and driving without a licence

A driver who led police on a high speed chase along the wrong side of a dual carriageway while smoking cannabis has walked free from court.

Curt Lodge, 27, reached speeds of 85mph on a 40mph road and jumped red lights during the ten mile pursuit.

The uninsured driver, who has never had a licence, refused to stop because he thought he would fail a breath test.

Police tried and failed to stop his BMW with a stinger twice and was eventually stopped when he jumped out of the car at a petrol station in Gloucester and tried to escape on foot.

However, when he was breathalysed he was found to be under the drink drive limit but admitted he was smoking cannabis during the chase.

Lodge was spared an immediate jail sentence at Gloucester Crown Court.

Recorder David Bartlett said he 'agonised' over the decision but said Lodge needed help to reform.

Outside court, Lodge said: 'I'm a lucky boy' after being given a ten month jail term, suspended for 18 months.

Prosecutor Lisa Hennessy told the court Lodge lost control at a roundabout in Cheltenham in June last year, sparking the chase.

She said: 'It went onto the roundabout and crashed into a signal post. It then made off.'

He then refused to stop for police and instead went on a ten mile drive hitting kerbs, running red lights and driving the wrong way down the dual carriageway.

Andrew Hobson, defending, said: 'This was an impulsive and stupid act when he knew the police were following him.

'He tells me he got a buzz out of it. Those are his words.

'He has an entrenched propensity to act stupidly and not to think through the consequences of his actions.'

Car obsessed Lodge admitted driving dangerously, failing to stop for police, having no insurance and having no licence.

Recorder Bartlett told him: 'When I came into court I thought I would have to pass a prison sentence you would serve immediately.

'You have breached community orders, bail, and driving orders.

'But your solicitor has made the telling point that people with your history of bad driving and bad criminal behaviour don't reform overnight.

'They need a lot of help and encouragement and they get that from the probation service - long may it remain so.

'In the circumstances, having agonised about this - and I don't think anyone could criticise me for giving you a ten months sentence to serve straightaway - I am going to suspend it.'

He added: 'I am not all that confident that you are going to make it work but I hope so.'

Lodge, who posed for photographers outside court, was also banned from driving for three years, ordered to do 60 hours unpaid work and attend a 22-day 'thinking skills' programme.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk 11/01/2013