Drink-driver tried to 'leg it' from police.

Byline: Suzanne Evans

A DRINK-DRIVER escaped from a moving police car but was caught by officers when he ran out of breath, a court heard.

Keri Michael Cotter, 45, of Gwenallt Court, Aberdare, was sprayed with CS gas when he stopped running after 100 yards. He was given a suspended prison sentence at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court S him in the Aberdare Hotel car park in Mountain Ash.

He had 118 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He will be sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court for driving with excess alcohol on Wednesday, November 11.

But yesterday, the Crown Court was told that after he was placed in the back of a police car he climbed into the front and told the driver: "I'm off." He then opened the door and ran for it. As he clambered into the front, the court heard there was a minor fracas in which PC Julian John was hit in the lip. PC John had put Cotter into the back of the car and was driving down through Mountain Ash towards the Abercynon roundabout on the A4059 to take Cotter to the Merthyr Tydfil custody suite.

Cotter denied deliberately headbutting the officer and told the court: "My intention was to get out of the car and leg it."

PC John stopped the car and ran after him, spraying him with CS gas. Cotter only made it 100 yards up the road before turning around and holding out his hands to be handcuffed, telling the officer he couldn't run any further.

Cotter admitted escaping from lawful custody and driving with excess alcohol.

Leighton Hughes, defending, said: "It would be nice to describe this as a moment of madness but there have been many of these in drink over the years."

Judge John Curran told Cotter that he had been acting in an "irrational and aggressive manner". He added: "Where he was determined to get out, and did get out, of the car I am not satisfied that he deliberately attempted to butt the officer in the face."

He sentenced Cotter to a 16-week jail sentence, suspended for two years.