A drink driver who nearly killed two police officers when he deliberately smashed into their patrol car at 90mph has been jailed.
James Tweed, 23, careered his Fiat Punto into the car after he was spotted driving erratically on the wrong side of the A45 in September this year.
Incredibly, despite the horrific impact of the crash which caused the £50,000 BMXWX5 patrol car to flip over the two officers survived.
When Tweed was arrested he had an alcohol reading of 118mg per 100ml of blood – compared to the legal limit of 80mg.
On Tuesday Tweed was jailed for a total of 18 months after he admitted dangerous driving and assault at Northampton Crown Court.
Prosecutor Jonathan Cox told the court Tweed, a Tesco delivery driver, was seen driving at “terrifying and dangerous” speeds in the middle of Northampton at 5.30am on September 28.
He said: “He was seen travelling on the wrong side of the road around blind bends and through red traffic lights.
“A police car containing two officers followed Tweed’s car onto the A45 towards Wellingborough and they travelled alongside him in the nearside lane.
“Tweed’s car was travelling at speeds of up to 100mph and two police patrol cars attempted to box his vehicle in to try to stop him.
“The defendant was sticking his middle finger in the air at police officers and was seen texting on his phone with no hands on the steering wheel.”
The court heard Tweed then deliberately swerved his car towards the central reservation and struck the police car causing it to flip over onto its roof and come to rest on the verge.
Mr Cox told the court: “Both officers said they thought they were going to die in the crash due to the high speeds involved.”
One of the officers suffered a ruptured shoulder and is undergoing intense physiotherapy.
The court heard he still suffers flashbacks of the crash.
The officer who was driving suffered muscle spasms in his spine and bruising to his knee.
After the crash, Tweed continued driving and tried to ram three more police cars before he finally stopped the car and was tasered by officers.
Maxine Krone, defending, said Tweed accepted his behaviour had been “appalling.”
She said he went off in the car after having an argument with his girlfriend.
Despite his appalling driving, Tesco are standing by him and have refused to sack him.
Miss Krone said the supermarket giant had offered to give him a “career break” while he is in prison.
He was jailed for two months for assault and 16 months for dangerous driving to be served consecutively.
Tweed, of Northampton, was also jailed for 12 months and eight months for two charges of actual bodily harm, to be served concurrently.
He will serve a total of 18 months in prison.
The court heard Tweed went on the rampage after a drunken row following a night out with his girlfriend Jennifer Hill.
After barging into the her friend’s flat, Tweed picked her up and carried her down two flights of stairs causing her bruising and scratches, which resulted in the charge of assault.
Sentencing Judge Mayo added: “You are clearly a bright young man but when you are drunk your behaviour changes.
“At 90mph you swerved into the side of 4×4 car driven by police just doing their job.
“One of the officers thought his crew member had died and it must have been a horrific and terrifying experience for them.
“You caused £50,000 worth of damage to the car. It was selfish.stupid and deliberate on your part.
“You carried on driving on three wheels when other police vehicles tried to stop you.
“This was immature and selfish and verging on displaying behaviour of someone with serious mental health issues.
“You could have seriously injured yourself, the police officers or any other drivers on the road at that time.
“It’s hard for me to see a more serious case of dangerous driving.”
