A dangerous driver who flew over the A19 flyover at 90mph then rammed a police car three times in a doomed escape bid is in jail today.

Callum Wastell, 25, was spotted making a high-speed dash across the flyover by a sergeant on duty in an unmarked police car at 1.30am.

He drove erratically and unsteadily moving from lane to lane on July 9, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The officer turned on his blue lights and flashed his headlights but Wastell would not stop, prosecutor Victoria Lamballe said.

An 18-mile chase ensued at 35 to 90mph, with the Hyundai pursued by three police cars.

The officers tried to box Wastell in but he weaved across the road, colliding with a PC’s car twice.

The jolt enabled the errant driver to free himself from the box manoeuvre, the PC overtook him and Wastell rammed the back of the vehicle a third time, halting the pursuit.

Wastell was caught in the driving seat and found to be more than double the drink drive limit at the scene.

He told officers he had been driving around with a friend.

At first he claimed he did not know the police were behind him but then changed his account, confessing he had drunk several cans of lager.

He caused just over £1,300 damage to the police car.

Wastell, of Chestnut Grove, Thornaby, admitted dangerous driving, drink driving and driving without insurance or a licence.

At the time he was on licence from a 51-month prison sentence imposed in June 2015 for robbery and aggravated vehicle taking.

In that case, he lured his grandmother’s neighbour away from his Thornaby home to demand his car keys at knifepoint while another man came at him with a hammer.

Then he was a passenger in the stolen Vauxhall Corsa as his partner in crime tore up and down the A19 in a 25-minute chase before careering into a grass verge.

Now Wastell has been recalled to complete that long prison sentence.

Alex Bousfield, defending in the latest case, said: “There’s no excuse for the behaviour. He does express some remorse and apologises for that behaviour.

“He has been very foolish. Fortunately no one was hurt but clearly the danger is there for all to see.”

He said Wastell claimed he “felt under some pressure” with a passenger encouraging him to carry on.

Judge Howard Crowson told Wastell: “This is very bad driving for a protracted period in the early hours of the morning.”

He jailed Wastell for 15 months and banned him from driving for 31-and-a-half months.

Wastell has never passed a driving test, and must pass an extended test when his ban ends to be allowed on the roads.