A serial driving offender who flouted his disqualification to drive his mates to the shop has been warned he could face jail.

John Thomson, of Churchill Court, Dovercourt, was spotted by police officers on patrol behind the wheel of a Vauxhall van, despite being banned and having no insurance.

The 19-year-old was also in breach of a four-month suspended sentence, which he received for dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance and burglary after a high-speed police chase down the A120 towards Manningtree.

Samantha Lowther, prosecuting, said: “On October 24, officers were in Oakley Road, Harwich, when one of them identified Thomson as driving a Vauxhall van.

“On seeing the officer, Thomson drove away and the police followed him.

“The defendant eventually pulled over and whilst stopped had removed the hooded top he was wearing but the key for the car was found on his person.”

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Thomson was twice banned from driving in 2016 after driving without insurance or a licence.

Back in 2017, Thomson was spotted driving a Renault Clio erratically by an officer in Clarke’s Road, Dovercourt.

The constable followed Thomson on lights and sirens, indicating for him to pull over, however, teenager continued down the A120.

Another officer took over the chase towards Mistley on rural Clacton Road, where Thomson reached speeds of 80 mph, overtook cars and forced other drivers to take evasive manoeuvres.

Emma Nash, mitigating, said Thomson was a vulnerable young man who was easily influenced.

She said: “He has a plethora of mental health difficulties, autism, ADHD and in the last three weeks has tried to take his own life four times.

“He is a very vulnerable young man and he has been in touch with the crisis team in the last few weeks.

“His friends put him forward to do things.

“They suggest he should take risks and on the day in question he was at a friend’s house.

“They persuaded him to drive to the shop, telling him he would not get caught.”

Recorder Giles Eyre delayed sentencing to January 22, for a full pre-sentence report to be compiled but warned Thomson he could face jail.

He said: “If Ms Nash’s submissions are correct, this is a young man who is very vulnerable and the court should do whatever it can to help him.

“However if that is not correct this is a young man who needs to learn his lesson now and can spend some time in a cell thinking about it.”