Driver jailed for low speed police chase through Gosport Â

Lyndon Holmes, 37, weaved his way in and out of traffic for 11 minutes '“ colliding with two vehicles and nearly hitting an ambulance '“ after trying to escape cops in Grange Road in a Range Rover.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how the defendant was spotted by police at around 11am one morning in September before he embarked on his getaway after mistakenly thinking he was wanted for previous crimes. '˜Whatever he was wanted for at the time appears to have counted for nothing,' prosecutor Paul Farley said.

Despite being hampered with a flat tyre during the final throes of his hapless attempt to flee justice, Holmes nonetheless persisted to evade authorities while revving his car while crawling along at a snail's pace.

As his battered vehicle finally ground to a halt with smoke pouring from it, Holmes sprinted from the vehicle before he was caught.

Holmes pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, and driving without insurance and a driving licence.

In defence, John Livingstone, said Holmes, of Bucksey Road, Gosport, had been involved in a '˜bad case of dangerous driving' but added '˜he hasn't got a bad driving record'. However, judge Robert Hill interjected: '˜I presume he does not do much driving on a provisional licence.'

Mr Livingstone added: '˜He needs to improve his thinking and make better decisions. When he saw the police he just panicked and had this great fear come over him. He thought the police may think he was in a stolen car.

'˜He has a rather ambivalent attitude towards the police.'

Holmes told officers after he was arrested that he was in the area to score Class A drugs.

But sentencing the defendant to eight months jail, judge Hill said he would only be punished for his driving offences.

He added: '˜You plainly did not want to be stopped by police. It was a piece of driving that was a horror story. You drove through built up areas, collided with two vehicles, and at one point were driving at speed near where there was a school.

'˜You seem to be associated with drugs but there were no drugs offences in this case.'

On top of being jailed, Holmes was also disqualified from driving for two years.