'Drunken' driver rammed police cars during 120mph M62 chase that could have caused 'multiple deaths'
Motorist has lengthy criminal record for driving matters
A driver who was drinking a can of lager repeatedly smashed into police cars to get away during a motorway chase in which he reached 120mph.
James Oldfield was already banned when he pulled the death-defying manoeuvres on the M62.
The judge at Leeds Crown Court said it was a “matter of fortune” that Oldfield did not kill himself or others.
Prosecuting, Henry Fernandez said the 37-year-old was handed a 32-week suspended sentence in March for driving matters and refusing to be breath tested. He was also banned from the road.
But four days later police received reports that a Kia car was being driven around Pontefract with its lights switched off.
They found the car stationary with Oldfield behind the wheel. He was arrested and later bailed.
Then on July 7, he threatened his mother with a baseball bat and damaged a fence, before fleeing in a Vauxhall.
He was seen by police accelerating onto the M62 in West Yorkshire and cutting across traffic, speeding up to 120mph.
Heading onto the M18, police tried several times to stop him, but he rammed into them.
After a final collision, he lost control and the car spun and then slammed into the central-reservation barrier.
He tried to get out of the passenger side and was detained. He struggled as they attempted to get him into handcuffs.
The can of lager was found in the car but Oldfield refused to be breathalysed.
Appearing in court this week over a video link from HMP Leeds, he admitted dangerous driving, two of driving while banned, two of having no insurance, obstructing police, making threats with an offensive weapon in a private place, criminal damage, having no test certificate and failing to provide a breath test.
Oldfield, of Mill Balk Place, Snaith, East Yorkshire, has 40 previous convictions for 72 offences, including multiple for dangerous driving.
Mitigating, Anastasis Tasou said “chronic alcohol abuse” had blighted Oldfield’s life and that he had unmanaged ADHD symptoms.
He said he could be managed in the community so he could receive the help he needs to “break the cycle of drinking and offending”.
But Judge Simon Phillips KC said jail was necessary.
He told Oldfield: “For the past 22 years the courts have endeavoured to work with you to deter your criminality and a course of self destruction.
“It was a matter of fortune, not judgement, that driving at those speeds drunk, as you appeared to be, did not result in multiple fatalities.
“You could have not only ruined your own life but those of police officers and other members of the public.”
He jailed him for a total of 40 months and handed him a new 56-month driving ban.