A GRIEVING son triggered a high-speed police chase after he took his father's ashes on a tribute ride.
According to reports in yesterday's Sunerland Echo, what was originally planned as a touching sentiment went wrong when Jack Ball was spotted by police on his dad's Triumph.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the 19-year-old's dad Andy, a gardener, had died of lung cancer in February, aged 55, just weeks before the incident. Jack Ball told the paper that his tribute ride for his dad: "The biggest mistake of my life."
He said: "When my dad was ill, he always said he wanted that one last ride, and that he wished he was strong enough to go for one more ride on his 'baby' – that's what he called it.
"But he never did get strong enough, so I decided to take him for one before I went to college. No one knew what I was doing. I wanted to do it for my dad. But then I panicked and what I did after that was completely and utterly irresponsible and selfish. I could have hurt someone.
"I made a terrible decision and I've regretted it ever since."
The court heard how Ball went through red lights, crossing on to the wrong side of the carriageway, going the wrong way around roundabouts and forcing other drivers to swerve while driving up to speeds of 70mph in daylight.
Officers lost sight of him during the pursuit but arrived at his home in Wilton Gardens South, Boldon Colliery, minutes later after tracing the bike back to his dad's address.
His mum Lorraine said: "I think Andy would have appreciated the sentiment, but not the way he went about it."
Judge Richard Lowden, who sentenced him to 18 months probation and community service said: "At the time of this you had just suffered a grievous blow, you had just lost your father. I take that into account ... But your reaction put so many other people at risk and it is them I have got to be sorry for."
