A Leicester man who used fake £50 Scottish bank notes in two Gloucester shops led police on a high speed car chase after staff raised the alarm, a court heard on Thursday (December 7).

During the chase on October 28, 2023, a bag of fake currency was flung from the man's car and by the time a police officer tracked it down a group of pedestrians were gathering to pick up the forged notes, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

James McCarthy, 32, had reached speeds of 70mph during the two minute city centre car chase before he was forced to stop and fled from the car on foot.

He was chased and arrested - and remained in custody until the court appearance.

After hearing that McCarthy, of Moorfields, Leicester, had a fake number plate on his vehicle and other cloned plates in the car, the judge, Recorder Don Tait, sentenced him to a total of 18 months jail and banned him from driving, also for 18 months.

McCarthy, a dad of two, pleaded guilty to using a £50 note knowing it was counterfeit, driving dangerously, driving while disqualified, fraudulently using a false registration mark and having no insurance.

Prosecutor Jack Barry said that on October 28 at 2.45pm McCarthy went into WHSmith's in Gloucester and tried to use a £50 Bank of Scotland note to pay a cashier for a packet of cigarettes. The cashier said she could not take the note in her till, and he would have to use a self-service machine but when he did so, it was rejected.

He blamed the machine and left the store but shortly afterwards went into Waterstone's nearby and offered a similar note to pay for a pack of Christmas cards. Staff noticed he kept looking over his shoulder at someone outside the store and suspicions were aroused.

A cashier said she needed to check because she had never had such a note before. The note was checked with a security pen, and it was accepted in payment - but a supervisor then immediately realised it was a fake and the alarm was raised.

City centre CCTV tracked McCarthy as he walked through the city and police officers were directed towards his location. They saw him running to a vehicle parked in Bruton Way and driving off and a motor patrol officer gave chase from Trier Way.

The officer tried to pull in front of McCarthy's car but he reversed and made off, reaching 70mph as he ignored traffic signals and signs as he went the wrong way along busy roads.

When the patrol car caught up with him he got out of the vehicle and ran but was quickly caught and arrested.

McCarthy made no comment to police during the interview after his arrest.

The prosecutor said McCarthy has 20 previous criminal convictions for 45 offences, seven of them for fraud.

He had been convicted of dangerous driving offences in 2017 and 2021 and was subject to an 8 months suspended sentence.

Meabh McGee, defending, said McCarthy - recently married with two children, aged 3 and 6 - has not been coping well with prison while on remand in custody and is awaiting an MRI scan because of worsening headaches and feelings of intense pressure.

Recorder Tait told McCarthy "It seems plain to me that you came down from your home city of Leicester intent on committing offences and you found your way to Gloucester.

"You had a vehicle with cloned registration plates on it, you were subject to a suspended sentence and here you were in the city of Gloucester trying to pass counterfeit £50 notes. You have got a bad record for similar offending and also a bad record in relation to driving offences.

The Recorder passed jail terms of 8 months for the counterfeit currency offence, four months consecutive for driving while disqualified, two months concurrent for driving dangerously, no separate penalty for the other offences and six months consecutively for the suspended sentence breach.

The 18 month driving ban will not begin till he is released from prison.