A former taxi driver who left two police officers injured by ramming their cars has been jailed.
Kasam Ali was behind the wheel of a VW Golf in Blaydon, Gateshead, when police tried to pull him over at the entrance to a Shell garage on the evening of March 5 last year.
Officers positioned cars at the front and back of his vehicle and he responded by driving back and forward, ramming them to escape at speed through the forecourt.
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Newcastle Crown Court heard he left two officers injured and one police car so badly damaged it could not be driven.
Another police car then took him out, forcing him into a spin in a "tactical stop".
After his arrest, he failed to comply with an attempt to test him for drink or drug driving.
Both officers suffered whiplash injuries.
While on bail for that offence, Ali was spotted behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Insignia on Stanhope Street, Newcastle, on June 17 just before 1am.
When he saw police, he rapidly reversed away then drove at estimated speeds of 50 to 60mph in residential 20mph zones and mounted a footpath.
He abandoned the car but was arrested on foot and had glazed eyes, was drowsy and smelled of cannabis. He again refused to give a specimen.
The 31-year-old who has four previous convictions, including for careless driving and failing to report an accident, admitted two offences of dangerous driving, two of having no insurance and two of failing to provide a specimen.
Ali, of Croydon Road, Fenham, Newcastle was jailed for 22 months and will be banned from driving for two years when he is released.
Chris Knox, defending, said: "He has thoroughly misbehaved and been foolish and dangerous.
"He is a young Asian man from a good family.
"He was a taxi driver earning a decent living until someone took a machete to him.
"He says he suffered a fractured skull.
"The attack has badly affected him.
"Unless he gets his drink and drugs under control it's going to be a dreadful outcome for him."
