A BANNED driver who drove into a police officer who attempted to stop him as he drove a stolen vehicle in Bridport has been jailed.

Joshua Joseph Hayward, of Bridport, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday (November 27).

He had previously admitted offences of dangerous driving, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, failing to stop following a road traffic collision, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without valid insurance.

The 31-year-old further admitted offences of failing to provide a specimen of blood for analysis and a second charge of failing to stop following a road traffic collision.

On Wednesday, Hayward was sentenced to a total of four years in prison and disqualified from driving for seven years.

The charges came after an incident at around 5.45pm on Wednesday, August 7, when two officers on patrol in Bridport were searching for a vehicle reported stolen two days earlier.

They spotted the car, a Honda Jazz, in the area of Alexandra Road and activated the blue lights on their police vehicle and approached it.

However, the Honda reversed into the junction of Gale Crescent.

An officer stopped the police car in front of the junction and his colleague got out to approach the Honda on foot.

As he exited, Hayward drove straight at the police car in the Honda, trapping the officer’s leg against the car door.

He then reversed back and drove forward again, into the rear of the police car and mounting the pavement, before fleeing the scene.

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The injured officer issued a radio broadcast for assistance and colleagues spotted the Honda in West Bay Road.

Hayward was seen driving through Burton Bradstock, colliding with the rear of a stationary bus, before carrying on eastbound along the B3157 Coast Road towards Abbotsbury.

As he entered Abbotsbury, he encountered another marked police car and turned onto back roads before heading back onto the B3157, travelling west up Abbotsbury Hill.

When he reached the top of the hill, he attempted to turn into a side road but lost control of the vehicle, which collided with a gate and overturned.

The defendant was arrested and taken to hospital as a precaution. His front seat passenger, a man in his 40s, sustained a fractured sternum, fractured ribs and a ruptured bladder.

The officer whose leg was trapped by Hayward’s vehicle sustained a crush injury to his leg with severe pain and bruising leaving him unable to walk for several weeks.

After the sentencing on Wednesday, PC James Hazell, of the Serious Collision Investigation Team, said: “Joshua Hayward’s extremely reckless driving on August 7 saw him drive a car straight into an officer, who was simply doing his job and attempting to stop a stolen vehicle.

“The officer sustained a nasty injury to his leg, but the defendant’s actions could have had even more serious consequences and we simply will not tolerate this kind of behaviour that puts our officers’ lives at risk.

“Hayward continued to drive dangerously as he attempted to evade police, posing a further serious risk to other road users and the wider public as well as ultimately resulting in a collision that left his passenger with serious injuries.

“We have carried out a detailed investigation into these matters to ensure the defendant was held to account for his reprehensible behaviour.”