WEST DORSET: A man who stole a truck and led police on a 25-mile car chase while high on drugs has been jailed for 12 months.

Ricky Lee Thompson, 23, of Toll House Mews, Bridport, was sentenced at Dorchester Crown Court after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicle taking on January 3 this year.

At the time of the offence Thompson was on bail for another charge of stealing a Land Rover Freelander and failing to surrender to custody at Weym-outh Magistrates Court on December 31, 2014.

He admitted those offences and was sentenced to three months and two months in jail, concurrently to the 12-month term.

Prosecuting, James Kellam, said police were told the vehicle, a Ford Transit flat-bed truck, had been stolen from an address in Somerset in the early hours of January 3. Mr Kellam said police became aware the truck was parked in a car park in Lyme Regis and as they approached the vehicle, they saw it being driven away by Thompson, and that he crashed into a number of nearby parked cars as they gave chase.

Mr Kellam said Thompson was driving over 60mph in 30mph zones in Lyme Regis, before going on the wrong side of the road at the Hunter’s Lodge junction on the A35 as the chase continued.

He also said Thompson was detained by police after he crashed and tried to escape on foot, but was ‘rugby tackled’ by an officer. Mr Kellam said that in his police interview, Thompson admitted taking the truck and also having taken the drug M-Cat, otherwise known as mephedrone, before driving.

The court heard Thompson has 81 previous convictions for theft, burglary, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent and driving whilst disqualified and without insurance.

In mitigation, Jamie Porter, said Thompson thought he was taking a ‘legitimate, legal high’ when he consumed the drug, and ‘thought it was something like a Red Bull plus tablet’.

Mr Porter said: “He regrets his actions. He fully accepts stealing cars is part of what he does, but he doesn’t normally try and drive them in a dangerous fashion and avoid capture from police.”

Sentencing Judge Peter Johnson said: “What you did was to take a flat bed truck, and then drive it dangerously when police pursued you. You went through red lights, caused damage to parked cars as police were trying to stop you. Essentially what you did was extremely dangerous.”

Thompson was also disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to sit an extended driving test after his ban.

Bridport Police Insp Mike Darby said: “Whenever he is out of prison my officers spend a significant amount of time looking for him to prevent him committing crime and I am very pleased that the community of Bridport will be spared him committing offences for the period of time he is in prison.”