A drunk mum left her kids home alone with the door open to give her friend a lift, but ended up desperately slathering herself in grease to escape the police.
Magen Hendry was drunk when she left her front door open and her young children asleep home alone at 3am on October 25, 2019.
One child was of pre-school age and the other at primary school and when police attended the home they were both found crying for their mother, Teesside Live reported .
When giving her friend a lift home she drove dangerously through Stockon-on-Tees, racing through two sets of red lights and not having her lights on, the prosecution alleged.
Despite giving chase, police lost the 28-year-old and her black Audi A9 but the car was spotted on CCTV abandoned in a car park, Hendry was found nearby, crouching behind a wall.
The mum-on-the-run had slathered herself in grease, thought to be anti-vandal grease, in a desperate attempt to hide from police and when she was found her bare feet were bleeding.
Prosecutor Uzma Khan told the court that Hendry had tried to leg it, but was quickly arrested after a short chase.
The mum told officers that she had been decorating at home with a friend when she had agreed to give her a lift home.
The court was told she said: "I wouldn't say it was dangerous driving but by the time I went through the red lights it was too late to stop."
Hendry admitted to abandoning her two children unattended at home, and police then found her children crying out for her mother.
"She had woken up, realised that her mother was not present. She'd got upset, she was crying and when the police arrived the youngest child was also crying," Ms Khan added.
Hendry, from Thornaby, pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect and one count of dangerous driving.
Tabitha Buck, defending, said that social services had been involved since the incident and that a probation report found that Hendry had resorted to alcohol to cope with a crisis in her life.
Judge Howard Crowson told Hendry that she had been "careless about the welfare of your children and of other drivers on the road."
He handed her a two-year supervision order and an 18-month driving ban.
Hendry told the judge that there is no school bus and that a taxi to get her children to school was £7 each way.
But the judge warned her that if she drove while banned, she could end up with a prison sentence.
