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A boozy driver who feared he would be banned for drink-driving tried to outrun police at dangerously-high speeds before rolling his Ford car – but was later found to be under the limit.

Joseph Williamson, who had been out drinking and watching football with a friend, reached speeds above 80mph, took roundabouts in the wrong direction and even switched his headlights off after police tried to pull him over in Normanton at around 10pm on September 1 last year.

They spotted him overtaking on Church Lane so turned to pursue him. Dashcam footage was played to Leeds Crown Court showed them failing to keep up with the red car. They eventually lost sight of him after he turned into an estate, but a second patrol car was able to continue the chase which took them along country roads at high speed.

They eventually came across the Fiesta on its side. Williamson, who works as a joiner, was sobbing and heard to tell police: “I have done it to myself. I’ve have had a drink. I had everything on a plate and have thrown it all away.”

Williamson crashed after the police chase, blew over the limit, but later passed a more accurate drink-drive test.

Suffering only cuts, he was breathalysed and appeared to be almost twice the limit. A more accurate blood test was taken a short time later and showed him to be under the legal limit.

The 24-year-old, of Magdalene Fields, Normanton, admitted dangerous driving. He said he had drunk four pints of lager earlier that evening and was given a lift home by a friend, but then realised he had left his phone in his car, so took the decision to drive to retrieve the phone.

A probation report suggested Williamson “simply panicked” when the police turned to follow him.

Mitigating, Timothy Jacobs said: “He can’t explain or excuse the manner of his driving, he knows it was appalling and accepts responsibility. He has learned his lesson.”

He said he had also been stabbed during a night out in Wakefield last year and it had taken his toll on his mental health.

The judge, Recorder Richard Thyne KC, described it as “shocking” and an “appalling piece of driving” but said the inevitable jail term could be “just” suspended.

He handed him 12 months’ suspended for 18 months, 150 hours of unpaid work, a one-month curfew and a two-year driving ban.

Ban-fearing boozy Wakefield driver crashed during police chase - only to be found under the drink-drive limit