A banned driver has been jailed for crashing into a young learner driver and an instructor during a high speed police chase.
Michael O’Neil sped off at twice the 30 mph limit through crowded streets in the centre of Newton Abbot after police tried to stop him.
He crashed into the teenaged learner driver after going the wrong way down a one-way street and narrowly avoiding a series of other cars.
The streets were especially busy because it was half term and his driving was so dangerous that police had to ’tag’ him in a controlled collision to bring the pursuit to a halt.
O’Neil was not only banned from driving but he was on the run from the police because he had jumped bail after being arrested four months earlier for refusing a breath test.
He was driving to work at a factory in a black BMW even though he had no licence or insurance, Exeter Crown Court was told.
O’Neil, aged 26, of no fixed abode, admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident, driving while disqualified, and with no insurance during the chase in Newton Abbot on February 20 this year.
He also admitted possession of cannabis and failing to supply a specimen of breath after an earlier incident in Torquay in October 2018.
He was jailed for a total of 20 months by Judge Timothy Rose, who told him he had put other drivers and pedestrians as serious risk by his driving.
He said:"This was during half term when the roads were busy and people were around and about. You drove extremely dangerously at speeds up to 60 mph in a 30 mph limit.
"You failed to stop when directed, and even when there was an accident with a completely innocent learner driver and her instructor. that did not stop you. You had no control over how serious that accident was.
"You tried to ram a police car, you contravened one way directions and created a very real and serious threat from your dangerous driving.
"It required the police to cause a collision to prevent you from causing more danger. This was a very serious example of dangerous driving."
Mr Paul Grumbar, prosecuting, said O’Neil was wanted on warrant for the October offences when police tried to stop him on The Avenue, Newton Abbot, at 2 pm on February 20.
He pulled over but then sped off, crashing into the learner driver’s Citroen C3 after going the wrong way down Courtland Street. He tried to ram the police before being stopped on Torquay Road.
Mr Jeffrey Segan, defending, said O’Neil was trying to provide for his girlfriend and two children by working in a factory but was getting to and from work by car when he was not allowed to drive.
He said he panicked and made a series of bad decisions which he now regrets.