A DANGEROUS driver who forced workmen to leap out of his way, rammed a police car and went the wrong way down a dual-carriageway during two high-speed chases has been jailed.

In the first incident, Nicholas Brian Oakland, 26, drove on the pavement for 100 yards, scraped along and damaged a Park&Ride bus, and drove through a line of cones into a stretch of road closed off for roadworks, said Nicholas Rooke, prosecuting.

Workmen had to leap out of his way as Oakland drove along busy Fulford Road towards York city centre at 10am on July 2.

He was eventually caught by police after he drove into a cul-de-sac off Fulford Road and ran off.

“The second set of offences was late at night and the driving was worse in my judgment,” said Recorder Andrew Haslam.

Mr Rooke said Oakland rammed a police car when cornered in a side street, topped 70mph driving without lights down Tang Hall Lane, went the wrong way down the dual carriageway stretch of Hull Road at speed and evaded police at Grimston Bar roundabout.

But police had taken a picture of his face as he got out of the side street and he was later arrested.

Neither of the two cars involved were his. The first, a Skoda Fabia, had been stolen from a Stillingfleet garage, the second, a Vauxhall Vectra, from a residential driveway a few hours before police spotted Oakland at its wheel at 11.30pm on August 1.

Oakland, of Eden Avenue, Selby, pleaded guilty to theft of a sandwich and bottle of pop, aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent and dangerous driving, all on July 2, and aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and without a licence and failure to stop.

He was jailed for 20 months, banned from driving for two years and ordered to take an extended driving test before driving alone again.

For him, Alex Menary said he was psychotic and had long standing mental health problems.

Since being remanded in custody before Christmas, he had come off methadone and was getting drugs to help his mental state.