Middleham man paid friend £2k to avoid driving ban
A man who gave his friend £2,000 to claim responsibility for a car crash in order to avoid a driving ban has been jailed for 10 months.
Joe Colliver paid Lewis Purdie to tell police he had stolen his vehicle and crashed it in Leyburn, in December.
He had been twice the drink drive limit at the time of the crash.
Colliver, 25, from Middleham, and Purdie, 26, from Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at Teesside Crown Court.
Purdie was also jailed for ten months.
Colliver also pleaded guilty to drink driving and was banned from driving for 17 months.
The court heard he abandoned his Mitsubishi pick-up following the crash in Middleham Road on 26 December.
When he was arrested, he told police the vehicle had been stolen by Purdie.
Sgt Paul Cording, from North Yorkshire Police, said: "This was a blatant attempt to avoid prosecution for the serious offence of drink-driving."