A JUDGE said a man who became enraged when a fellow motorist blocked his path had used his vehicle as a weapon.

Michael Boyle lost his temper and began shouting abuse at the occupants of another car when it got in his way in Ketton Road, Stockton.

Prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, Jenny Haigh said Boyle drove nose to nose with the complainants’ Saab car which backed away to let him through.

However Boyle pursued the occupants, driving the wrong way around a roundabout, and then cut across their path as they tried to use a slip lane to the Tesco store in Durham Road.

The female front seat passenger got out to speak to the defendant, telling him he could have injured someone, and Boyle responded: ‘Who the f*** are you talking to?’

Boyle, who was jailed for ten months, threw a can of lager, which struck the other car, and then drove at the vehicle with his Astra striking a passenger door.

He also damaged the car’s wing and bumper when driving off, causing £3,850 damage in total.

Boyle, 24, of Scuffield Road, Stockton, was later arrested and picked out from a police identity parade. He admitted dangerous driving on April 19 last year.

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said it had been a “red mist” situation and a very poor piece of driving. He said Boyle was a “misfit” who had been bullied at school and had led an aimless life.

He was also on the autistic spectrum and occasionally used cocaine.

Judge Deborah Sherwin said Boyle’s previous convictions showed he had a tendency to lose his temper.

She said: “Anybody who uses a car as a weapon cannot avoid an immediate prison sentence.”