A FORMER drug dealer who led police on a high-speed chase through suburbs, country lanes and dual carriageways was hiding amphetamine in his dishwasher at home, a Court heard.

The drama began on the morning of Sunday, June 14, when a plain-clothes police officer approached 42-year-old Darryl Block’s car in a line of stationary traffic and ordered him to stay put.

Prosecutor Desmond Duffy told Bournemouth Crown Court that Block began to rev his VW Passat.

The officer told him to stop, but he moved forwards, hit the kerb, then reversed at speed towards the officer, who smashed the back window with his baton.

Block drove through the middle of two lanes of cars and was followed as he tried to escape his pursuers. He ignored speed limits and overtook other cars, forcing oncoming traffic to take evasive action.

Video footage showed him going around roundabouts the wrong way, driving on the wrong side of the road, cutting across a footpath and going over red traffic lights.

He headed down the Spur Road towards Bournemouth at up to 98mph, and after turning towards Christchurch, forced his way through two lanes of traffic and collided with a car.

He was finally stopped when the police rammed his vehicle.

Mr Duffy said the police went to Block’s home in Lowther Road, Bournemouth, and discovered nearly three kilos of amphetamine with a seven per cent purity.

Block was jailed for 11 years in 2002 for conspiring to supply heroin but was released on licence in July last year.

He told the police he had been given the amphetamine to sell to help discharge a previous drug debt.

He admitted dangerous driving and possessing amphetamine with intent to supply and was jailed for a total of two years and banned from driving for a year.

Passing sentence, Mr Recorder Anthony Coleman said: “It was little short of a miracle that no-one came to be injured as a consequence of what you did.”

Defence counsel Alisdair Williamson said Block had gained A levels and a BSc in prison and had been employed by the crime reduction charity Nacro to teach others in the community.