A MAN who drove aggressively and dangerously in an attempt to avoid capture by police has been put behind bars.

Thomas McDonagh, of Riverside Caravan Park in Queensferry,  appeared for sentence at Mold Crown Court on Friday morning.

The 21-year-old had been convicted at a previous hearing of dangerous driving and shoplifting.

Catherine Elvin, prosecuting, told the court that on November 19 last year, having travelled to the area from Kent, McDonagh and three others entered JD Sports at Eagles Meadow in Wrexham.

There, they placed clothing worth £450 into a bag before leaving the shop without paying.

CCTV captured them rushing to a waiting car - the licence plates of which were removed.

The defendant got into the driver's seat and set off at speed.

What followed was a course of dangerous driving which saw him continuously exceeding the 20mph limit in force, cutting inside other road users and generally driving in an "aggressive manner."

When he got to the Grosvenor Road intersection he exited at speed and proceeded directly against traffic in a one-way road.

After braking, he drove straight over a central reservation.

Such was the level of his dangerous driving, pursuing officers made the decision to stop.

The group was eventually apprehended two miles away and the stolen clothes were found in the bag, which it turned out had been foil-lined in an attempt to get around security alarms.

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All of the other defendants in the case have already been dealt with in the lower courts, Ms Elvin told the hearing.

Simon Parry, defending, conceded that his client's behaviour had come shortly after the conclusion of a suspended sentence order.

The Leader: Thomas McDonagh (NWP)Thomas McDonagh (NWP) (Image: North Wales Police) "Clearly the dangerous driving is the lead offence here," he said.

"He has never, to date, received any kind of rehabilitative work.

"The court is sentencing what is still a young man, at 21 years of age."

Mr Parry said the defendant had lost his mother in 2022, and prior to that he "didn't go to school" as he'd been acting as a carer to her.

"This young man clearly requires some direction in his life," Mr Parry added.

Judge Niclas Parry told the defendant: "This was not just shoplifting; it was sophisticated.

"You took steps to frustrate police detecting you.

"And your driving put many road users at risk.

The Leader:

"It was only due to remarkable good fortunate that no one was seriously injured or worse.

"And it's to your shame that you seek to plead in mitigation in your pre-sentence report the impact on you of your sister-in-law being tragically killed in a road traffic collision; you having gone through that, putting others at risk just to protect yourself."

Judge Parry handed down a 12 month custodial sentence, which must be served immediately.

"I love you," an emotional McDonagh told the public gallery as he was taken down.