Banned Notts driver rammed police car to escape in Worksop

James Rae was recognised by officers behind the wheel of a Ford Mondeo, on Radford Street, at 11.30am, on March 6, but drove off before they could speak to him, said prosecutor Gurdial Singh.

He was spotted in stationary traffic on Ryton Street, an hour later, but when officers tried to open his door he reversed at speed into their car, mounted the kerb and drove off.

He went through a red light and forced a pedestrian to jump aside to "avoid being struck," Mr Singh told Nottingham Crown Court, on Thursday.

Rae drove on the wrong side of the road on Memorial Avenue, and a traffic warden who witnessed his driving said she was "worried that she would be run over."

The court heard he has 16 convictions for 39 offences, and was jailed in 2015 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and in 2019 for affray.

He was banned for driving while disqualified in 2019 and was released from prison on February 12 2020.

Earl Ballentyne, mitigating, said Rae's offending started when he was 14 after the death of his mother, and the majority of his crimes were "petty, rather than serious."

He said Rae, who has a son with a former partner, had recently begun a new relationship with a woman who has given him an ultimatum about his behaviour.

Rae, 25, of Gladstone Street, Worksop, pleaded guilty to criminal damage, driving while disqualified and without insurance and dangerous driving, at the first opportunity.

Judge Steven Coupland told him he has a "bad record" and his driving that day was "incredibly dangerous."

"It's good news for you and good news for the public that you have found something positive at last," the judge said.

"If you carry on behaving like this the sentences are going to get longer and longer."

Rae, who has been recalled to prison until 2021, was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for three years and seven months.

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