Prosecutor Uzma Khan said police noticed Hendry’s black Audi A9 driving dangerously on Nelson Terrace without lights before it drove through two sets of red lights and then vanished.
Hendry was seen crouching barefoot behind a wall covered in slippery anti-vandal grease, which is generally used to deter criminals from attempting to get into people’s homes, after the Audi was discovered abandoned in a car park on Durham Road.
After a brief foot chase, Hendry was apprehended and told officers, ‘I wouldn’t say it was unsafe driving, but it was too late to halt by the time I went through the red lights.’
Hendry acknowledged to leaving her two children at home unattended. Hendry’s eldest child was spotted screaming for her mother at home by police.
‘She had awoken and discovered that her mother was not in the room. Ms Khan told the court that her daughter had become disturbed and was weeping, and that when the police arrived, the youngest kid was also crying.
Hendry, from Thornaby, admitted to two counts of child neglect and one count of reckless driving.
Defending attorney Tabitha Buck stated that social services had been involved since the incident and that a probation report revealed that Hendry had used alcohol to cope with a personal situation.
Hendry had been “careless about the welfare of your children and other drivers on the road,” according to Judge Howard Crowson.
He imposed a two-year monitoring order and an 18-month driving restriction on the mother of two.
Hendry told the judge that there is no school bus and that she had to pay £7 each way for a taxi to take her children to school. However, the judge warned her that if she drove while prohibited, she may face jail time.