A prolific offender crashed into a bollard and central reservation in a police chase through a Teesside town centre.
Banned driver Damian Eeles, 35, was behind the wheel of a stolen car spotted by police on Maritime Road in central Stockton.
Officers pursued him when he ignored lights, sirens and signals to stop on the afternoon of May 4.
Eeles drove through a red light on Church Lane, then on to Bath Lane and Neasham Close.
He sped across a grassed area and footpath and hit a metal bollard, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.
Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said the driver lost control and the Peugeot 307 bounced into the air.
But Eeles then managed to turn on to Maritime Road again, against the flow of traffic.
He finally stopped when the car hit the metal railings of the central reservation.
He and a passenger got out and ran away. He was caught hiding in long grass in a courtyard area on Neasham Close. His fingerprints were found in the vehicle.
The owner of the Peugeot 307 had found the car insecure, minus its keys and other property, at the Redworth Hall Hotel in Darlington the previous evening.
He went into the hotel to report the crime and search for his keys, and came out again to discover that the car itself was gone.
Eeles said he had been staying with friends in Stockton and needed to get home to Darlington but had no money.
He confessed he had been offered the car and knew “there was something dodgy” about it.
Eeles, formerly of Stanhope Road, Darlington, admitted aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified, having no insurance and failing to stop for police.
He asked for five offences of driving without paying for fuel in March to be taken into account.
He had 107 previous crimes on his record since 1997, including dangerous driving.
He was already in prison as he appeared in court for sentence.
He is serving a 27-month term imposed in August for assault causing actual bodily harm.
Victoria Hood, defending, said Eeles took “a very foolish risk” but since made progress in prison.
Drugs were part of the reason for the offences as he was trying to get the heroin substitute methadone, but he was now reducing his prescription.
“He’s absolutely had enough,” Ms Hood told the court.
“There’s going to be absolutely no drugs.”
She said he had qualified as a barber, been offered voluntary work in a church and sorted out his accommodation.
Judge Howard Crowson told Eeles: “This was very bad driving over a reasonable period.
“It caused some damage. It could have caused a lot worse. Fortunately nobody was hurt.”
He jailed Eeles for one year, concurrent to his existing sentence, and banned him from driving for two years.
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