JAILED: Drink driver deliberately rammed police car off M6 Toll after high-speed chase

Video footage showed Mark Abraham smashing into the Staffordshire Police patrol vehicle, sending it careering up an embankment and back down, Stafford Crown Court heard.

The two officers inside, Inspector Richard Gathergood and Pc Stuart Harman, both though they were going to die, yet escaped with relatively minor injury 'by a miracle', the court was told.

Abraham's car rolled over up the embankment and two other constables, Simon Kelly and Adrian Cash, went to arrest him.

He spat blood in their faces and kicked Pc Cash.

Abraham told them: "I hope I have put the officers in intensive care."

Mr Darron Whitehead, prosecuting, said the incident started when police got a phone call from the defendant's mother on September 6 warning them that her son intended to drive down the motorway at 125mph.

Motorway cameras spotted his car just north of Stafford and what followed was a half hour chase with Abraham weaving in and out across three lanes, accelerating up to 111mph or slowing to a crawl, goading the police to try to overtake him.

After a 'rolling road block' kept other traffic out of harm's way, a patrol car did overtake, but Abraham rammed it, causing more than £21,000 worth of damage.

In a victim impact statement, Pc Harman said that in more than 30 years service 'this was the first time I felt I would not survive'.

Inspector Gathergood said he believed Abraham not only wanted to kill himself, but kill a police officer at the same time.

Abraham, aged 23, of Medway, Kent, admitted attempting to cause serious injury by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, criminal damage to the police car and two offences of assaulting police officers.

He also admitted failing to provide a specimen for a breathalyser test.

Mr Rob Perry, mitigating, said Abraham suffered from an 'emotional personality disorder' marked by outbursts of violence or threatening behaviour.

Abraham had driven from Kent to Blackpool, turned around and was heading back home having taken drink on the way north.

Recorder Mr Michael Elsom told him: "I have had to observe two things which I find deeply unpleasant. One was watching the video record of your vehicle.

"The other was watching you in the dock at a time when any ordinary human being with any sense of shame would have been subdued.

"Not once have you ever shown any sign of remorse.

"What you were doing that morning was trying to bring about the death or serious injury of people protecting road users from people like you.

"Watching the video of those final moments when you deliberately drove your car at a police vehicle, was chilling in the extreme.

"How no-one was killed is a miracle."

The court heard that at the time Abraham was subject to a 120-day suspended jail sentence for assaulting police.

It was added to the total of 46 months for the motorway offences.

The defendant was also banned from driving for 10 years and ordered to pay £120 victim surcharge.