A DANGEROUS driver who led police on a high speed car chase through Newport while reaching speeds of nearly 100mph has been jailed.

Calam Lewis, 25, hit a vehicle at one point before the pursuit, which ended up on the M4, had to be “stood down” and he got away.

His escape was short lived however after police picked him up in the Fiat Panda in Caerphilly 24 hours later.

Lewis had been in the car with Chloe Davies who was due to be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court with him for aggravated vehicle taking

But the 18-year-old of George Street, Newport, failed to turn up and Judge Michael Fitton QC issued a warrant for her arrest.

Prosecutor John Warren said Lewis had taken the Fiat from a disabled neighbour after he had persuaded her to give him a lift on April 12.

While she was paying for fuel at a Blackwood petrol station, he drove off and went to pick up his girlfriend in the Pill area of Newport.

After they were spotted by police, Lewis took them on an 18-minute high speed chase, going through red traffic lights in built-up areas and, on the motorway, undertaking on the hard shoulder.

The driver of the car he hit was left “very shocked and shaken” and her vehicle was left with damage, including a window which no longer worked.

Mr Warren said the chase had be stood down by the police because of safety concerns after officers had reached speeds in the “upper 90s” to keep up with him.

A month later on May 12, Lewis burgled a house in Pengam and took the keys of a Volkswagen Sharan which he drove around the area.

Mr Warren said he was confronted by a family after he ploughed through their fence, causing £200 of damage.

He managed to flee and again led police on a chase that night before he was eventually halted by a stinger device which had shredded one of his tyres.

Lewis, of Birch Crescent, Cefn Hengoed, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicle taking, two charges of dangerous driving, burglary and possessing cannabis.

Mr Warren told the court that the defendant has 27 previous convictions including a 2015 knifepoint robbery for which he received a 34-month custodial sentence.

Judge Fitton jailed Lewis for a total of two years, banned him from driving for three years and six months, told him he must sit an extended driving test in the future if he wants a licence and pay a victim surcharge.