A motorist who led police on a high speed chase has been spared jail after it took a year to get him before a judge.

Darren Beasley raced away from police after they tried to stop him on the Chippenham ring road in the early hours of the morning.

The 28-year-old carried on going for a short distance after police burst his tyres with a stinger device placed across the road in Beanacre.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Beasley's N-reg Golf came up as wanted on number plate recognition at about 6.30am last April.

Police then spotted the car on the A350 near Chippenham as it did a U-turn to speed away from officers.

The vehicle went through two roundabout at about 80mph before going straight across the Lackham junction at 60mph without stopping.

It went on the wrong side of the road and to the right of a keep left bollard, narrowly missing a vehicle coming the other way.

After the car went over the stinger she said it continued for a short distance despite having shredded tyres.

She said the driver and passenger both ran off and were found nearby hiding in a ditch.

Beasley, of Street, Somerset, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

The court heard that in two months ago he was put on a suspended sentence for a series of drugs and other offences.

Philip Warren, defending, said his client had been put on a number of probation courses and was doing well on them.

He said "The point is this: he has fallen to be sentenced by instalments. This has come back to haunt him from more than a year ago."

He urged the court to impose another suspended sentence so he could continue with the good work he had begun.

Recorder Ian Lawrie QC said "It is a great shame that you weren't dealt with about this time last year.

"That works sadly slightly to your advantage in this way: a year has passed and you have had a sentence imposed of a suspended sentence order with conditions tagged on to it.

"You drove at high speed over a few miles and what aggravates it was you were trying to avoid the police.

"When you did come to a halt you put another driver on the road at inconvenience by crossing over to the other carriageway."

He imposed a six month jail term suspended for two years with a six month night time curfew and banned him from the road for a year and until he has passed an extended test.