A “LUNATIC” driver smashed into another car while trying to evade police in a stolen van, a court heard.

Dean Morey-Mee was behind the wheel of a Ford Transit which had been taken from High Wycombe and put on false plates on the A12 near Colchester.

After the vehicle triggered ANPR cameras, police decided to deploy a rolling road block to halt him, believing he was unlikely to stop when directed.

As traffic officers surrounded Morey-Mee he shifted onto the hard shoulder of the road in order to avoid them.

Morey-Mee then ran out of room and swerved back into the live traffic lane and crashed into a Volkswagen Golf.

He continued to drift between the lanes of traffic but was eventually apprehended by police.

The 31-year-old admitted dangerous driving but denied aggravated vehicle taking.

He was subsequently convicted following a trial.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard he had 18 previous convictions for a total of 33 offences.

Morey-Mee, of Valence Avenue, Dagenham, is already serving a 52 month sentence for separate drug conspiracy charges.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC said it was regrettable the cases did not come to court together and handed him a 12 month sentence to run concurrently with the one he is already serving.

She also sarcastically thanked him for appearing at court as he had refused to leave his cell for an earlier hearing.

“Well done for getting out of bed and to court today,” she said.

“This should have been dealt with some time ago.

“It was an appalling piece of driving.

“It was short lived but it is what every driver dreads - a lunatic driver coming along in a van and walloping their car.

“The strongest mitigating is totality.

“If it had come before me when the drugs charges did I would have passed a concurrent sentence and will do so now.”

The court heard the dad-of-two was struggling with drugs in the lead up to the incident in February 2018.

He will be banned from driving for two years upon release.