A father-of-two deliberately drove on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming cars after he got stuck in a traffic jam, a court heard.

Hardyal Bhatti, 37, of Beaumont Drive, Northfleet, tried to avoid waiting for the lights to change to green on the A2 Corporation Street in Rochester by mounting the concrete barrier in the centre of the dual carriageway and driving at speed towards vehicles travelling in the opposite direction.

Bhatti’s car, a black Audi A4, hit two others, a Fiat and a Subaru, writing one of them off. The drivers of both vehicles suffered injuries.

Bhatti, who is originally from India, appeared before magistrates in Medway, where he admitted dangerous driving.

Nicholas Markendale, prosecuting, told the court Bhatti, formerly of Pier Road, Gravesend, was seen by a number of other motorists mounting the central divide which splits the road into two levels.

Mr Markendale said: “He was seen driving up to the traffic and quickly seen avoiding the queue by crossing the central divide, which is sloped and has kerbs, and then drove on to the lower level of the carriageway and drives the wrong way along the carriageway.

“He continues to drive the wrong way for about 60 metres and is seen increasing his speed.

“At the junction of the Esplanade, he crashed and hit two cars.”

Magistrates heard a woman in one of the other vehicles suffered severe bruising and wrist injuries in the smash and the other driver, who already had prolapsed discs, had to have two weeks off work as the impact worsened his condition.

Mr Markendale said: “When he was interviewed he said the steering had jammed and he was unable to steer, but an examination of the car after the crash found the steering to be in a good condition and could do a full lock-to-lock manoeuvre.

"He drove at excessive speed in a built-up area and it was a danger to other road users" - Nicholas Markendale, prosecuting

“Damage to the Fiat came to £6,400, and the Subaru suffered £5,000 worth of damage.

“He drove at excessive speed in a built-up area and it was a danger to other road users.”

The court also heard how Bhatti was on a suspended sentence at the time of the offence, which happened shortly after noon on April 8 this year.

He had been given a 180-day custodial sentence, which was suspended for 24 months, in February for beating up his wife.

Bhatti, a construction labourer, also admitted the breach while in the dock.

The court heard he was now reconciled with his wife, who he married in 2002 and had two children with, and she had forgiven him for the domestic violence.

Magistrates also learnt Bhatti had a problem with alcohol, but was not over the limit at the time of the offence, and had begun getting help for his problems.

Sara Haroon, defending, said Bhatti was sorry for all that had happened.

Ms Haroon said: “He is learning from his mistakes and panicked on the day. Events overtook his ability to control the situation.”

Magistrates jailed Bhatti for 180 days for dangerous driving, but also activated part of his suspended sentence and ordered he serve 120 days of that too, which will run consecutively, bringing his total jail term to 300 days.

Hilary Noakes, chairman of the bench, said: “It does pass the custody threshold, it was such a serious incident.”

Bhatti was also ordered to pay £180 court costs and banned from driving for 12 months.