A SALISBURY man who deliberately rammed a police vehicle and sped away after being stopped by officers has been been spared jail.

Dale Read, 27, of Paisey Grove, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was sentenced on Friday.

He was given a 12 month suspended sentence and was disqualified from driving for 18 months. After this period he will have to pass an extended driving test.

On August 17, 2018, PC James Barrett was patrolling on the A360 Devizes Road, when he saw Read driving a Vauxhall Insignia at excess speed.

PC Barrett pulled Read over in Queen Alexander Road but he refused to hand over his driving licence and became obstructive.

A second police vehicle attended the scene and pulled up in front of Read, who then revved his engine and reversed backwards at speed, ramming PC Barrett's vehicle.

This caused more than £3,000 worth of damage to the bumper, headlights and paintwork.

Read then made his escape by driving on the pavement between a tree and fence, smashing the fence, before speeding off and clipping a parked vehicle.

The Insignia car was found abandoned in Hazel Close where it was recovered and searches were carried out to locate Read.

The following day, he called police to hand himself in.

PC Barrett said: “Read showed absolutely no respect for officers at the scene, or any other road users or pedestrians, driving at speed and dangerously on pavements, causing damage to other people’s property. It is lucky that nobody was injured."

Read was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, pay a victim surcharge of £115 and pay compensation of £398 to the owner of the fence, £1,000 to Wiltshire Police for the damage caused to the vehicle, and £250 Crown Prosecution Service costs.