HIT POLICE CAR AND DROVE ON WRONG SIDE

A WINDOW cleaner who led police on two high speed car chases less than a year after he caused a horror smash in Hartlepool has been jailed.

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN

Ryan Mains crashed into the back of a car on the A179.

Mains left the driver of the other car involved in chronic pain, Teesside Crown Court heard. Months later, the now 28-year-old led police on two pursuits just weeks apart.

This week, the dad-of-two appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced after admitting three counts of dangerous driving and three counts of driving whilst disqualified and with no insurance.

At 9.30pm on Saturday, October 5, 2024, Mains sped past cars on the lead up to a roundabout on the A179, just off Easington Road in Hartlepool.

He smashed into the car in front of him, which had slowed down to take the second exit off the roundabout.

Shaba Shan, prosecuting, said that Mains’ Audi then “hit the roundabout kerb, it rises 10ft to 15ft into the air, before coming to rest on its roof”.

A fire crew, paramedics and police officers were called the scene.

The other driver, whose car Mains smashed into, reported that he was left in “chronic pain” from the crash. “I struggled to move (afterwards),” he said in a statement to the court. “I have pain in my legs and back.

“I can no longer stand for long periods of time.

“I can’t wash my hair as I can’t hold my arms above my head. I had to take six months off work”.