Drug driver jailed after a head-on crash with police in County Durham
Two officers were left with serious injuries following the collision last June
A drug driver who left two police officers trapped in the wreckage of a car after ploughing into their vehicle has been jailed.
Christopher John Nash fled the scene leaving the officers with serious injuries during the incident in Murton, in the early hours of June 17, last year.
Durham Crown Court heard yesterday how Nash, who was also unlicensed and uninsured, had driven at speeds of more than 100mph during a pursuit, putting other road users in danger, before crashing head-on with the police car.
He was later found hiding in a lock-up unit along with his female passenger and tested positive for cocaine at the roadside.
He refused to provide a blood sample at the police station and denied the being the driver of the Focus involved until officers showed him evidence that his DNA was found on the car’s inflated air bag.
"A total disregard for the safety of other road users."
One officer suffered a broken hip and the second suffered a fractured wrist in the crash.
Nash admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving as well as having no insurance, no license and failing to provide a specimen of breath.
It was not the first offence for the 41-year-old who also had two drug-driving crimes on his record – one which was committed less than a month earlier.
Judge James Adkin sentenced him to 26-months in prison and banned him from driving for four years and one month.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said:
“This was a nasty incident in which Nash has made off from the police and driven at speed along public roads, showing a total disregard for the safety of other road users.
“He has crashed head-on into a marked police vehicle, then made off from the car on foot whilst the officers required medical attention.
“He was detained a short distance away and his DNA was recovered from the driver’s airbag.
“We are pleased that he received the custodial sentence his offending deserved.”
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