A BARROW man who caused £56,000 worth of damage after crashing during a police chase saw his “excessive” jail term slashed by judges.

Jamie Paul Green drove off after he was spotted by police driving a dangerously dilapidated Ford Focus ST in Devonshire Road, Barrow in February.

Preston Crown Court heard the 29-year-old drove “at some speed”, pursued by a police car with flashing lights and siren along Titchfield Street before crashing.

He smashed into an unused commercial building formerly the home of Microplan International.

The impact of the collision demolished the front wall of the building and caused more than £56,000 worth of damage.

When inspected by officers, the car was found to have bald tyres and several missing wheel nuts, the court heard.

Green was arrested and, after he admitted dangerous driving and driving while banned, was jailed for 18 months at Preston Crown Court in August.

But after an appeal by his lawyers on Friday, two senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London slashed the sentence to 10 months.

Green had only driven a few hundred yards from his home in Longmynd Avenue, said Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing.

He told police he was planning to sell the car to a friend and was driving it to her when he saw the officer.

His lawyers said the dangerous driving was limited to the way he drove down Titchfield Street.

It was “nowhere near” the most serious case of its kind, the judge, sitting with Judge Anuja Dhir QC, was told.

Allowing the appeal, Mrs Justice Laing ruled that the sentence imposed on the father-of-one was “manifestly excessive”.

“The total sentence is therefore one of 10 months’ imprisonment,” she added.