A repeat offender who pleaded guilty to a string of driving crimes in New Addington has been spared jail.

Dean Riley, 22, was arrested in the early hours of December 31 last year following a car chase that began after he failed to stop for patrolling officers patrol near Rowdown Primary School.

A witness claimed they had previously seen Riley's Ford Focus driving fast the "wrong way" up King Henry's Drive in an apparent attempt to avoid detection by the speed camera.

Riley, then of Cator Crescent, pleaded guilty in March to dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, failing to provide a specimen for analysis, and drink-driving.

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Dean Riley in 2013

At Croydon Crown Court yesterday he was sentenced to a 12-month community order and three-month alcohol treatment requirement order, and was told to pay £300 in costs.

He was also banned from driving for two years, and given the opportunity to attend a drink-driving rehabilitation course, which he accepted.

In 2013 Riley escaped with a six-month suspended prison sentence for his role in a violent gang attack on three Afghan men on a New Addington tram.

It came 14 months after he was jailed for four months for temporarily blinding a helicopter pilot with a laser pen.

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