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A dim-witted drug dealer who tried to evade pursuing police by mounting a pavement in a stolen car to drive between garden walls and parked vehicles declared on arrest: "I thought it would fit."
Dad-of-eight Jack Larkin's desperate bid to escape came to an abrupt halt when his "very foolish decision" ended with him crashing into a car in Strover Street, Gillingham.
The 32-year-old had no licence or insurance at the time and the 'getaway' Ford Focus in which his girlfriend Mary-Jayne Couchman was the front seat passenger was bearing false plates.
Police had been chasing them for as long as eight miles, having initially spotted the speeding vehicle in Delce Road, Rochester, shortly before 9pm on July 30 last year.
Larkin failed to stop and, heading towards Gillingham via Chatham bus station, he hit speeds of 70mph in 30mph streets, jumped red lights and swerved onto the wrong side of the carriageway into the paths of oncoming traffic.
Prosecutor Ben Irwin told Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday (January 30) that the car’s speed caused the rear to "kick out" and the vehicle to appear "unstable".
Even at the bus station in the town centre, he drove at more than double the 20mph limit.
But describing the moment Larkin was stopped in his tracks in the residential road, Mr Irwin said: "It (the pursuit) finally came to an end when the Ford Focus mounted a pavement trying to pass between parked cars and garden walls, leading to a collision with a parked vehicle.
"Such was the force of the collision, the airbags in the Focus were deployed and the driver was rapidly apprehended.
"He gave his details, looked at the damage he had caused and said 'I thought it would fit.'"
The court heard he also admitted that a bag in one of the footwells was his and that drugs - a quantity of cocaine and 30 deal bags of cannabis - were stashed inside it along with cash.
Couchman, 22, also confessed to having "cocaine and weed" on her.
The couple, of Spade Lane, Hartlip, were arrested and released on bail but four weeks later on August 27 were spotted in another stolen car on false plates.
"They looked nervous and began to fidget," Mr Irwin told the court. "The officer who went to speak to them said he was immediately hit by the smell of cannabis when the car door was opened."
Larkin, who has 11 previous convictions for 15 offences, again owned up to having cocaine and cannabis in the vehicle.
The court heard that the couple also tested positive for cocaine after their arrests.
They each later pleaded guilty to four offences of possessing class A and class B drugs with intent to supply.
Larkin also admitted dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance.
He and his girlfriend were said to have been involved in street dealing, selling direct to users and receiving a 10% cut of the operation.
The money earned was spent on "daily necessities" and drugs, the court was told, feeding Larkin's own entrenched cocaine addiction which began when he was 15 and cost him as much as £200 a day.
But although he had a previous conviction for dangerous driving in September 2017, his criminal history did not include anything drug-related.
George Jackson, defending, told the sentencing hearing that Larkin's "unsettled" life had taken "a turn for the worse" when he and Couchman lost custody of their children, with one being taken at birth.
"He may not show it but it has had a significant impact on him and his emotional well-being," added the barrister.
Of the lengthy police chase, Mr Jackson added it was an "impulsive" offence.
"He knew exactly the difficulties he would get into with police upon his apprehension and that's what prompted him to undertake the course of dangerous driving," he explained.
"He accepts it was a very foolish decision nonetheless and has had serious consequences for the victim of the damage."
But Mr Jackson said the former construction worker had now sought assistance for his addiction while in custody on remand, completed courses, and "wants to be a role model" for his family on his release.
Before passing sentence on the couple, Judge Oliver Saxby KC explained that having read all the documents put before the court on behalf of Couchman he was prepared to spare her immediate custody.
Highlighting her "naivety and immaturity", as well as her previous good character, personal "turmoil" and vulnerability, he said he had "no doubt" she became involved in drug dealing through her partner.
‘You have to grow up. I cannot put it any stronger than that. You are a mother and you have responsibilities…’
But in stating he was "prepared to take a risk" by handing her a two-year jail term suspended for two years, with 35 rehabilitation activity requirements, Judge Saxby warned she needed to "grow up".
He also raised his concerns about any future association Couchman had with Larkin.
"The ball is in your court. I cannot pretend I wasn't concerned when I read your intention is very much to remain with Jack Larkin come what may," he told the young mum.
"Nothing against him, but I have already made the observation that on the face of it, but for him, you would not have become involved in these offences.
"Those who deal in class A drugs, whether they are users themselves, wreak havoc. You of all people will realise the damage they do.
"You are a mother and you should not be doing this. What I read reassures me that although these are serious offences and ordinarily immediate custody is required, you are on the road to rehabilitation.
"You have to grow up. I cannot put it any stronger than that. You are a mother and you have responsibilities.
"And when you are 40, 50 years of age, you need to be able to look back and say when I was 22 I pulled myself together, I realised what was important and I decided to live my life in as good a way as I could manage."
A spell behind bars was inevitable for Larkin, however, with his offending aggravated by the fact he was on bail at the time he was caught with drugs for a second time as well as his previous conviction for dangerous driving.
Detailing the extent of his bid to out-manoeuvre chasing police while ignoring the risks, Judge Saxby said: "Real persons, real consequences, real upset and goodness, if you had stopped to think about it, the damage could have been much, much worse.
"You could have died. Someone else could have died, and you wouldn't be sitting here looking at the sentence you are looking at. It would be in double figures."
Larkin was jailed for a total of three years and three months.
The judge said he had taken account of several mitigating factors, including his ADHD, a degree of childhood trauma, his chaotic lifestyle at the time, his mental health and the progress made in custody.
He was also banned from driving for three years and two months and ordered to take an extended test to gain a licence.
Both defendants thanked the judge at the end of the hearing.