A WANTED man who risked lives when he fled from police in a car twice in two days has been jailed for 14 months.

John Paul Mountford crashed into parked cars and broke the speed limit when police attempted to detain him for breaching his licence after being released from jail after serving part of a sentence imposed for theft.

The 41-year-old was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday June 8 after admitting dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident, two charges of failing to stop when required by an officer, two counts of driving whilst disqualified and two offences of driving without valid insurance.

He was also disqualified from driving for 30 months, with the ban coming into effect upon Mountford's release from prison.

The court heard that at 1.45pm on Wednesday April 11 an officer in an unmarked police car was alerted to an uninsured silver Peugeot travelling along Boundary Road toward Bournemouth University.

The officer used blue lights and sirens to indicate for the vehicle to stop and when it did so he got out of his car to approach it. At that point the Peugeot drove off at speed.

The officer got back into his vehicle and saw the Peugeot travel along Victoria Park Road and across the junction with Wimborne Road without stopping before driving down Brassey Road and into Muscliffe Road, where the officer lost sight of it.

He estimated that the Peugeot was travelling at around 40mph in a 30mph limit.

The officer located the Peugeot in Castle Road shortly afterwards, where it had collided with two other vehicles. A member of the public detained a woman who was in the front passenger seat and the officer went to detain the male driver.

He attempted to remove the keys but the driver, who was identified as Mountford, prevented the officer and managed to get the vehicle moving again, driving off at speed toward Ripon Road.

The following morning at around 9am an officer saw the Peugeot coming toward her in Luckham Road and pulled alongside it to prevent it from going ahead.

She spoke to the driver through the window but he became agitated and reversed his car up the road in an attempt to get away. The officer indicated for him to stop by using her blue lights but he did not.

A few minutes later another officer saw the vehicle on Turbary Park Avenue and identified Mountford as the driver. He stopped the vehicle in Dawes Avenue, where Mountford handed over the keys and was arrested.

Police Sergeant Mark Farrow, of Dorset Police’s No Excuse Team, said: “John Mountford’s attempts to drive off at speed from officers put officers, fellow motorists and members of the public at risk.

"I hope this case demonstrates that anyone who endangers fellow road users in this way will be brought before the courts and face the consequences of their actions."