PAGET: JAIL FOR TEENAGER CAUGHT SPEEDING ON STOLEN MOPED

A teenager led police in a frantic 50mph chase on a stolen scooter was locked up for nine months today (Fri).

Pedestrians were forced to scramble for cover as George Paget, 19, mounted the pavement in a bid to escape the officers.

He managed to shake them off in Islington’s Packington Estate, but was spotted on the same scooter the following evening.

Paget sped up in an attempt to make a get-away, but smashed into a Ford Focus, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

The scooter had reported stolen from Clerkenwell and Paget was seen carrying a pillion passenger on the evening of June 29.

As police gave chase, he accelerated to 50mph and mounted the pavement.

The following evening he was spotted again carrying a passenger and crashed after making an attempt to escape police for a second time.

Paget denied he had been riding the scooter in interview, but later pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicle taking.

Andrew Mooney, defending, said his client was expecting to become a father next year and was desperate to turn his life around.

‘His father now lives in Weston-super-Mare and there is a job on offer as a painter and decorator,’ he said.

‘He has been involved with a group of young lads, many of whom have been involved in much greater criminal activity.

‘Moving from the area will cut down on his difficulties and it is hoped he will be able to start a completely new life away from London.’

Paget had not stolen the bike, but admitted riding it after it was taken, he added.

Judge Jane Sullivan sentenced Paget, of (35) Roden Street, Holloway, north London, to nine months in a young offenders’ institution.

Addressing the judge from the dock, Paget said: ‘I’ve got a baby on the way and I have to change my ways because I don’t want it to turn out like me.

‘It’s been very hard.’

But she told him: ‘You were driving dangerously and involved in an accident.

‘You mounted the pavement, on which you continued to ride, forcing members of the public to get out of your way.

‘I hope in the future you will indeed change your ways.

‘But there is no option for me but to impose an immediate custodial sentence.’

Paget, who holds a provisional licence, was also disqualified from driving for a year.

ends