A van driver who found himself stuck in a ditch after trying to speed away from police has been jailed.
Craig Mcintosh was dragged out of the driver’s seat of the van he was driving following his unsuccessful escape attempt.
Mcintosh drove head-on towards other vehicles and even turned his lights off in a bid to evade officers.
The 32-year-old had come to the attention of police, after the van he was in showed on the system as being on cloned plates.
Response officers tracked and got behind the vehicle on the A1 at Balderton at around 3.50am on August 8, 2023.
A pursuit then took place, in which Mcintosh demonstrated a continued display of dangerous driving.
Despite officers turning on their blue lights, the driver carried on towards the A46, near Newark, before making a number of illegal overtakes.
He was also seen to travel on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming traffic and switch off the van’s lights, despite it being dark.
Mcintosh drove at speeds of 80mph in a 50mph zone, and clocked 60mph in a residential area with a 30mph limit.
While making his way through Kelham, the driver turned down Broadgate Lane, before misjudging a corner a few seconds later.
The van veered off the road, crashed into a telegraph post, and went into a ditch, where it finally came to a stop.
Mcintosh was pulled from the vehicle and arrested at the roadside.
He would go on to be charged with dangerous driving and driving while disqualified — offences he pleaded guilty to in court.
Mcintosh, of Leasowe Garth, Leeds, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday, June 18 and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
He was also banned from driving for 19 months, at which point he will then have to pass a re-test.
PC Michael Drury, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “There was absolutely no excuse whatsoever for Mcintosh to drive the way he did in the early hours of that morning.
“Despite our officers following him with their blue lights on, he continued to put his foot down in an attempt to try and evade them.
“Mcintosh could’ve pulled over at any time, but instead chose to drive away at speed, while completing a series of dangerous manoeuvres.
“He also compounded this by turning his lights off, despite it being so dark at the time, before eventually losing control and crashing into a telegraph post.
“Thankfully for everyone involved, nobody was injured in this incident, although that is in no way down to Mcintosh’s driving skills.
“We’re pleased to see he’s now been sentenced for his actions, and hope he uses his time in prison and off the roads to think about his conduct going forward.”
