A Suffolk van driver who overtook cars on the wrong side of the road and drove over a zebra crossing without slowing down during a police chase has been jailed for 30 weeks.

Sentencing Daniel Dale, Recorder Graham Huston said: “This was a bad piece of driving which was potentially life-threatening. Fortunately no-one was injured or damage caused.”

He said Dale had exceeded the 30mph speed limit, driven blindly over a zebra crossing and overtaken on the wrong side of the road with the potential of being involved in a head-on collision with oncoming vehicles.

Dale, 31, of Glemsford Place, Haverhill admitted dangerous driving, driving without a licence and insurance, resisting a police officer and shoplifting.

He was jailed for 30 weeks and banned from driving for two years and 26 days.

Simon Gladwell, prosecuting, said the dangerous driving took place in Haverhill on April 23 last year after police saw Dale driving in Burton End and attempted to get him to stop.

The pursuit ended when Dale drove into a dead end road and ran off. He was found hiding in a shed and was arrested after a struggle, during which he pushed over a policeman.

The court heard that Dale had been in custody since March 16 this year.