A DANGEROUS driver who breached the terms of a suspended jail sentence by kicking and breaking a door in a fit of anger has seen the suspension increased.

Alexander Hickson was given a six month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, after driving away from police at speeds of up to 80mph in 30mph zones during a chase in Darlington which ended when his car careered across a footpath and hit a tree.

The sentence - which Recorder Martin Bethel said was “very lucky” - was imposed at the end of July this year.

However, a little over a month later, on September 2, Hickson was law breaking again, damaging a house door, causing the glass in it to shatter.

He admitted criminal damage and breaching the suspended sentence.

His barrister Kieran Rainey said the father-of-two could react impulsively and needed to “take responsibility and grow up”.

Mr Rainey said Hickson was a hard-working man, in employment, who understood what he had done wrong and was trying to put it right.

Recorder Bethel, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, said 23-year-old Hickson, of King William Street, Darlington, was in peril of being jailed if he committed further offences.

He ordered he pay a £250 fine and said the six month jail sentence previously imposed would be suspended an extra two months, taking it to 20 months.