A father-to-be who led police on a 141-mile car chase across the country – before ending up in Kent – claimed he was rushing to get the birth of his child, a court has heard.

Lauchlan Pritchard drove through red lights, attempted to ram police cars, and drove the wrong way on the dual carriageway in November last year.

When the 25-year-old was eventually stopped in West Malling he told officers he thought his driving had been “brilliant”.

Pritchard of Pennine Road, Oakley, Cheltenham, admitted dangerous driving and not having insurance or a valid licence – he was jailed for 12 months at Gloucester Crown Court.

Prosecutor Neil Treharne told the court how at around 9pm on November 20 Gloucestershire Police were alerted to a Suzuki Vitara being around Cirencester on cloned number plates.

He said: “The driver, later identified as Pritchard, was next spotted on the A419 near Cricklade, Wilts, and was now being followed by a marked police vehicle. The police followed Pritchard onto the M4 at junction 15 heading towards London.

“As he approached Membury Services the police activated the blue lights and sirens indicating to Pritchard to turn off the motorway.

“Pritchard ignored this request and accelerated to 90mph and continued along the M4 and swerved across all three lanes of the motorway trying to get away from the police.”

The erratic driver then left the motorway and was witnessed by police driving through several red lights before arriving at the junction with the M3 and heading towards London.

Mr Treharne added: “The police continued to follow Pritchard as he turned off onto the M26. The police then decided to take control of the situation and tried to pass the Suzuki. But as they did so Pritchard swerved the car about, narrowly missing the police vehicle. Pritchard then tried to hit the police vehicle many times, but all his attempts were thwarted due to the driving skill of the police officer.

“At 11.15pm Pritchard had reached junction 2a of the M26 and exited the motorway onto the A20 London Road with the police still in pursuit. The driver went through another set of red traffic lights and then chose to drive on the opposite carriageway at 68mph.

“Luckily no oncoming traffic was around at this point but if there had been this could have resulted in a serious collision.

“Pritchard then entered the market town of West Malling at speed when there were members of the public walking in the area. He then suddenly stopped and began reversing and tried to ram the police vehicle before driving off at speed again.

“It was at this point Kent Police took over the pursuit and as Pritchard went through temporary red lights on Seven Mile Lane near Mereworth a stinger was deployed. It deflated the Suzuki’s tyres and brought the 141 mile pursuit to an end.”

Pritchard was then arrested and taken into custody where he admitted that he didn’t have a driving licence or any insurance. He also claimed he had no knowledge of the vehicle having cloned number plates.

He pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates Court the next day to dangerous driving.

Steven Young, defending, said: “None of the facts are in dispute. However, while it was a long pursuit there were large parts of the journey where he wasn’t driving dangerously.

“For long periods there was no danger to other road users. He wasn’t being blue-lighted for the whole distance.

“The reason he was driving to Kent was that his partner had gone into labour and that was where he was heading. That’s why he took the route he did.

“Luckily for all concerned, there was no collision, but admittedly there were numerous examples of dangerous driving during the long pursuit.”

Judge Rupert Lowe told Pritchard: “Police first spotted you driving a vehicle with cloned number plates. But it seems throughout this period you don’t care what the law says. You seemed to enjoy the police chase. You even claimed your driving was brilliant.

“You travelled at 90mph for long periods of time, during which you swerved across all three lanes of the M4. You tried to stop the police car overtaking you by swerving into it at high speed.

“You also tried to ram the police vehicle at West Malling before heading off on Seven Mile Lane where Kent Police deployed a stinger and brought the pursuit to an end.”

The judge sentenced Pritchard to 12 months in jail and disqualified him from driving for three years from the date of his release from custody. He ordered that Pritchard take an extended test before obtaining his driving licence.