A disqualified learner driver has been caught behind the wheel again after a 20-minute police chase saw him crash his car.

Joshua Tickner, 23, of Cherry Road in Wisbech, reappeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday for sentencing, having already pleaded guilty to multiple driving offences.

They included a fail to stop, drug-driving, possession of a Class B drug and a weapon, as well as driving while disqualified and without the correct licence or insurance.

The court heard how on June 13, police attempted to stop a Volkswagen Golf near Morrisons on Elm High Road, in Wisbech.

Officers switched on their lights and sirens, at which point the car sped off, reaching 75mph in a 40mph zone.

About 20 minutes later, they received reports that the car had crashed, and the driver had left the scene.

They then discovered that Tickner, who had been behind the wheel, was already subject to an interim driving ban while he was waiting to be sentenced for another matter from November 28 last year.

During that incident, he was pulled over on Losinga Road in Lynn as his car was uninsured.

At the time, he only held a provisional licence, and a search of the vehicle found cannabis and a knuckle duster in the central console.

Tickner was arrested, and tests at the station showed he had 4.8mcg of cannabis per 100ml of blood in his system – the legal limit is 2mcg.

In mitigation, solicitor Tiffany Meredith said the defendant has a “lack of consequential thinking” and when he was caught in June, “he panicked and put his foot down”.

For the drug-driving offence, magistrates handed him a community order, through which he will have to complete 200 hours of unpaid work as well as 20 rehabilitation activity days.

Tickner will also have to pay a £114 victim surcharge and £110 in court costs, which will be deducted from his benefits.

In addition to this, he has been banned from driving for an additional 12 months, and his licence will be endorsed to show he has been convicted of driving without insurance.

The cannabis and knuckle duster will also be forfeited and destroyed.