A BANNED driver who claimed he experienced an ‘adrenaline rush’ from the thrill of police chases was today (Friday August 14) jailed for 20 months.

Robert Peter Holliday was on licence after his release from a previous prison sentence for dangerous driving when the latest incident took place on May 26.

Durham Crown Court heard the 27-year-old - said to have a “fascination” with vehicles - was initially followed by police after he was spotted driving a Renault Clio without a seatbelt on Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, at 11am.

When police attempted to stop him, Holliday accelerated away, reaching speeds of up to 90-miles per hour on the A689, while ‘undertaking’ vehicles and heading the wrong way around a roundabout.

A father-of-two driving a Volkswagen Golf tried to block Holliday to allow police to catch up but he rammed his car, containing a two-year-old child and four-week-old baby.

When police tried to stop him, Holliday also rammed a patrol car, forcing officers to abandon the pursuit.

The car was later found abandoned in Willington, with Holliday’s wallet still inside, and his dna was recovered from the rear view mirror.

When police searched Holliday’s home, they found a key for the Clio.

A previous hearing heard that when he was interviewed by the Probation Service, he admitted that seeing the blue light of a police car gave him an “adrenaline rush” by trying to evade arrest.

The court heard he has a number of driving offences and has been jailed in each of the last two years for motoring matters, including a previous chase in which police cars were rammed.

Holliday, of Park Street, Willington, admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance, plus failing to stop after an accident.

John Turner, mitigating, said: “He’s quite an industrious man, with few periods of unemployment, but they are allied with a fascination for motor vehicles and working on motor vehicles.

“He would like to seek employment to exploit the skills he clearly has.”

Jailing him for the maximum sentence possible, given his ‘guilty’ pleas, Judge Christopher Prince told Holliday: “This is about the 12th or 13th time recently in these courts that I have made it clear to people who engage in pursuits after seeing the blue lights of a police car, that only five words apply: ‘Stop, or you go to prison'."

Holliday was also banned from driving for two years and eight months and must then pass an extended test to be allowed to drive legally.