Jailed: Telford driver fled police and crashed into pick-up truck
A Telford man has been jailed after he sped away from police when he was caught driving without insurance, before crashing into another driver, leaving him with painful rib and shoulder injuries.
Dreece Bateman, 25, initially stopped the blue BMW he was driving when told to pull over by police in Regent Street, Wellington, but when they had parked and were speaking to him and his passenger, he suddenly sped off, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard last week.
Bateman drove off erratically, overtaking other drivers on the wrong side of the road and reaching speeds of 70mph in residential 30mph streets, said prosecutor Daniella Davidson-James.
Officers chased him by car for several minutes before he smashed into a pick-up truck, leaving its male driver with whiplash and injuries to his hip and shoulder which persist today.
Bateman, of St Matthews Road in Donnington, was arrested and interviewed.
The incident happened in early February this year.
The court heard evidence from the driver of the pick-up, who said he has trouble lying down because of his injuries and has "no idea when [his] ribs will be okay again".
In committing offences of dangerous driving, driving without insurance and not using a valid licence (he had a provisional licence at the time), Bateman was in breach of a suspended sentence he had been given for harassing a woman.
His representative, Mr Kevin Jones, said Bateman felt remorse for his actions and his "foolish decision".
Judge Anthony Lowe sentenced Bateman to 36 weeks in prison for the dangerous driving, and also activated the seven-week suspended sentence, meaning a total continuous sentence of 43 weeks.
He also banned Bateman from the roads for two years and endorsed his licence.
The judge told him: "You would have known the moment you started to speed away from police that there would be consequences.
"You drove at ridiculous speed in residential areas... at any moment there could have been a fatality."
