A DANGEROUS, drunk and disqualified driver who drove his partner’s car at a neighbour has been jailed for 18 months.

Thomas Davis, 27, of Oakbank Road, Keighley, was double the drink-drive limit on September 2 when he took the car following an argument and firstly rammed a neighbour’s vehicle.

He then drove at speed on Hainworth Wood Road in Keighley, narrowly missing a pedestrian, before returning to his partner Vicky Graham’s mother’s address.

At this point, the neighbour whose Ford Mondeo had been damaged attempted to capture Davis’ driving on camera, but he did not slow down as she was stood in the road trying to take a photo.

Prosecutor David McGonigal told Bradford Crown Court that the woman had to “get out of the way to avoid being hit”.

When police officers arrived and tracked Davis to the garden of a nearby home, he became aggressive and needed to be restrained by officers.

He kicked out while three officers attempted to detain him, connecting with one officer’s shin and causing bruising. A witness described him as an “animal possessed”.

Mr McGonigal added that Davis was disqualified from driving at the time and had tested at 75 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the limit is 35 micrograms.

A total of £1,500 worth of damage was caused to the neighbour’s Mondeo, the court heard.

He added that Davis had previous convictions for dangerous driving, drink driving and for driving while disqualified.

Davis pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to dangerous driving, assaulting a PC, driving while disqualified, no insurance and driving while over the prescribed limit.

Judge David Hatton QC sentenced Davis to 18 months in prison, and disqualified him from driving for four years. He must also pass an extended re-test if he wants to drive again in the future.

“In driving as you did in the early hours of that morning, you caused gratuitous damage to a vehicle owned by perfectly innocent people, which has caused a not inconsiderable financial loss but also distress,” he said.

“Furthermore you drove through the street at considerable speeds, endangering other people and at least one pedestrian was present at the time.”

Rebecca Young, for Davis, said that alcohol was involved in all his offending and that it “affects his thought processes”.

She added that he had kept off alcohol for 12 months prior to this incident, and that on the night in question he had taken his partner out, who had been struggling with post natal depression while caring for two young children.

“He accepts he is incapable of having anything to drink in future,” she added.