Darren Bennett was speeding in a busy residential area before crashing into a traffic light
A man crashed into a traffic light as he sped away from police in an attempt to avoid being arrested for driving without a licence.
The court heard Darren Bennett, 38, had never managed to pass a driving test and admitted two sets of driving offences that occurred a week apart in September.
Sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, Judge Eleri Rees said: “It was perhaps pure good fortune that no one was injured.”
The court heard the first set of offences – driving without a licence or insurance, careless driving and possession of amphetamine – occurred around 3pm on September 1.
'Swerved' away from police
Prosecutor John Warren said a police officer saw the defendant driving a Ford Focus on North Avenue in Tredegar.
Mr Warren said he spun the car’s wheels as he “swerved” away from the officer, speeding away on the wrong side of the road.
The officer pursued him on to Charles Street and then witnessed him collide with a Ford Transit van and a brick wall, causing “substantial damage”.
Bennett left his girlfriend in the car and ran, but was chased and arrested by the officer, who found 24g of the Class B drug amphetamine in the car.
The defendant claimed the drugs were for personal use, adding he took about 7g a day.
He accepted the offences and was granted bail, but a week later, was in trouble again.
More than 30 previous convictions
Bennett admitted at Newport Magistrates’ Court dangerous driving, plus again driving without a licence or insurance, as well as possessing more amphetamine.
Prosecutors played a CCTV clip of the defendant speeding along North Avenue – reaching 63mph on the restricted road – and crashing into a traffic light, which was destroyed.
Mr Warren stressed the offences occurred in the early evening, in a residential area, with pedestrians walking along the pavement.
The defendant was found to have 15.5g of amphetamine and remained silent in his police interview.
Mr Warren said Bennett had more than 30 previous convictions, mostly for driving and drug offences.
The offending breached a community order made for stealing £200 worth of diesel from a site in Ebbw Vale .
It also breached a suspended sentence imposed in June this year for stealing two CCTV cameras from Odeon Furniture in Tredegar .
'Stupidity of his actions'
Huw Bowden, defending, argued his client had shown “some maturity” by completing the drug rehabilitation requirement of his previous community order.
He said: “When the rehabilitation ended, he lapsed into misuse, which led to very poor consequential thinking.”
Mr Bowden said his client initially fled from the police because he wrongly believed a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
He added: “He acknowledges the stupidity of his actions.”
Judge Rees noted the defendant, from Laburnum Avenue in Tredegar, had never passed a driving test.
She told him: “You had no thought for anybody’s safety, not even your own.”
He was jailed for a year, disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to pass an extended test before being allowed to drive.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dramatic-police-chase-sees-man-12075413
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