A DANGEROUS driver has been jailed for 54 weeks after mounting the pavement and colliding with a traffic island during a police pursuit.

Phillip Ruta, of Fallows Road, Padworth, was driving his black Audi A3 at around 11.45am on March 5 last year in Thatcham when he failed to stop for emergency services.

He avoided police along Victor Road, Park Avenue, the A4 and The Moors, before crashing the car and coming to a standstill.

The 29-year-old admitted to dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen at Reading Crown Court on August 7 and has been disqualified from driving for three and a half years.

PC Nick Easener from the Investigation Hub based at Newbury Police Station, said: “This case was almost certainly one of the worst examples of dangerous driving I have ever dealt with in a very long and varied career.

“The standard of driving displayed by Ruta was absolutely abysmal and showed a complete disregard for the safety of all other road users.

“It was pure luck that nobody was seriously injured or major damage caused.

“I believe the sentence issued by the court highlights just how dangerous the manner of the Ruta’s driving was and how little respect he showed for anybody else.”

Ruta failed to stop and after mounting the pavement he collided with a road sign and a traffic island on Kestrel Close.

He was arrested on the same day as the offences and was charged on August 11 last year.

He will be ordered to take an extended re-test if he wishes to obtain a new driving licence at the end of his disqualification.