A DRINK-DRIVE suspect escaped from the police as he was being arrested because he was “quicker over 50 yards” than the chasing officer.

Ashley Northover fled from and outran a PC when he was being cautioned after a roadside breath test showed he was nearly three times the limit.

Richard Ace, prosecuting, said the defendant who "was unsteady on his feet” was confronted after stopping his car at a garage in Caerphilly to buy cigarettes.

Northover, 27, admitted having three drinks that evening and gave a reading of 95 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres when he was breathalysed.

The legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

Mr Ace said: “The officer started cautioning the defendant who then suddenly ran off after he said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’

“He followed the defendant for quite some distance telling him to stop.

“The defendant carried on running and he lost sight of him ultimately.

“A local search was made by other officers but the defendant wasn’t seen.”

Northover handed himself in the next day when he went to his nearest police station.

The defendant, of Cherry Tree Close, Bedwas, Caerphilly, admitted escaping from custody on November 15, 2021.

Ed Mitchard, representing Northover, asked for his client to be given maximum credit for his early guilty plea.

He told Cardiff Crown Court: “They had been corresponding in a perfectly pleasant conversation.

“There was no violence used or threatened – my client was simply quicker over 50 yards than the police officer.

“My client then realising the next day, having spoken to myself, the gravity of the situation immediately took himself to Bedwas police station.

“They knew who he was already because they had custody of his car.

“It was a drink-drive and he was nearly three times the limit which blurred his thinking at that stage.”

Mr Mitchard added how his client was in work and his employer was present in the courtroom to support Northover.

The defendant was caught drink-driving and banned for three years after he committed this offence, the court was told.

The judge, Recorder Eugene Egan, told Northover: “You thwarted the full investigation into an offence of excess alcohol, driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.

“There was a positive roadside test – you were significantly over the legal maximum and you stopped an evidential test being taken at the police station by running off.”

After taking into account his guilty plea and personal mitigation the judge said he was able to suspend the prison sentence.

Northover was jailed for four months, suspended for 18 months.

He was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and complete a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The defendant must £150 prosecution costs and a £128 victim surcharge within four months.