An ‘immature’ dangerous driver threw a police officer to the ground and 'jumped' on top of him after a highspeed car chase.

Jack McGrail, aged 23, of Willows Lane, Bolton drove at speeds of up to 70mph in a 30mph zone while trying to escape officers who had seen him driving a VW Jetta on Hawthorne Road on April 3.

During his attempted escape, he then abandoned the car and when an officer tried to arrest him, he threw the officer to the ground and jumped on top of him, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Judge Tom Gilbart said: “This was an assault on a public servant, performing a public duty as you tried to escape responsibility for your own actions.”

At a hearing earlier this week Craig MacGregor, prosecuting, told the court how McGrail had been carrying two other men in the car.

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His attempt to escape police included driving on the wrong side of the road and running a red light before he and the other two men abandoned the car, which then rolled into and damaged another vehicle.

Once arrested, McGrail pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while banned and having no insurance and assault on an emergency worker.

At the time he was already serving a suspended prison sentence for dangerous driving, while the court also heard that he has failed to engage with the probation service or do much of his unpaid work.

Niamh McGinty, defending, argued that McGrail had lived a ‘chaotic’ lifestyle but that he had shown remorse for his actions, especially his attack had on the police officer.

Brought back before the court, Judge Gilbart told McGrail he had no option but to jail him.

He said: “You knew that you should not have been behind the wheel of that car.”

He added: “You are young, and you are immature, and you have problems with your thinking skills.”

He accepted that McGrail’s crimes were ‘spontaneous’ but said they were also ‘selfish and foolish’ and sentenced him to a total of 20 months in prison with a driving ban of four years and 10 months.