A thug sped through residential roads before trying to drive the wrong way up the M57.
Ben Duffy was out on licence from a previous dangerous driving conviction when he went on a reckless rampage around Merseyside last October.
He went through red lights, travelled the wrong way up roads and drove at 70 miles per hour in a 40 zone during his 20-minute high speed chase.
READ MORE: Professional burglars stole BMWs and Audis worth a combined £2.6m
The 29-year-old was only stopped when a police officer rammed his car as it was about to drive the wrong way on to the M57.
Steven Ball, prosecuting, said Duffy was spotted by police in a Ford Cougar with cloned plates on October 24.
Yet when they took after him, he began a pursuit through roads in Huyton, Old Swan, Knotty Ash and West Derby as he tried to evade officers.
He weaved between traffic the entire way, frequently passing on to the wrong side of the road for extended periods of the chase.
Duffy ignored red lights and later drove the wrong way round a roundabout.
He was finally stopped when an officer rammed his car as he tried to enter the M57, with two other squad cars managing to halt the vehicle and arrest Duffy.
Mr Ball said: “He was in the vehicle with his passenger. They refused to get out the car.
“There was a strong smell of cannabis.
“He then kicked and screamed as he was taken from the car.”
The court was later shown CCTV of the latter part of the chase, with dashcam footage showing him speeding up multiple roads in the wrong direction before police stopped him.
After his arrest, Duffy continuously refused to provide a sample for drug and alcohol testing and was later also prosecuted for this.
The court heard that all the police officers involved in stopping Duffy were injured to differing extents, with one requiring time off work. They have now returned to their jobs.
Duffy has two convictions for dangerous driving aside from this one and committed this offence while on licence for another driving offence which saw him disqualified.
Peter Killen, defending, said Duffy’s most meaningful form of mitigation was an early guilty plea and added that he had recently become an enhanced prisoner and was undertaking courses to deal with cocaine and heroin addiction.
However, Mr Killen said he recognised that his previous convictions would put him towards the top of the sentencing bracket for dangerous driving.
That maximum sentence currently stands at two years if no one is seriously injured or killed as a result of the driving.
Judge David Aubrey, QC, said he would have sent Duffy to prison for longer if sentencing guidelines allowed him to do so.
He said Duffy was acting entirely in his own interest and that it was only “by the grace of god” that he didn’t seriously injure or kill someone.
Judge Aubrey said: “You were driving on the wrong side of the carriageway not for a few feet or yards but for a considerable distance when other vehicles were heading towards you.
“I haven’t mentioned you driving round the roundabout the wrong way. I haven’t mentioned your excessive speed. I haven’t mentioned you travelling through red signals. I haven’t mentioned you injuring three police officers.
“What if an eight year old child stepped out into the road while you were driving so dangerously?
“What if your partner’s eight year old child stepped out into the road?”
He said the sentencing guidelines set out by legislation limited him in the sentence he could hand down to Duffy.
Duffy, of Wigan Road, Leigh, was jailed for 16 months, with credit given for his guilty plea.
He was also disqualified from driving for three years.
