A MAN fled from police who had boxed him in before smashing into an electricity pole and then running from the scene.

Nathan Baptiste, 25, of Sea Road, Boscombe, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving when he engaged in a police chase on the M27 and through Hedge End on October 21, 2018.

He appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing.

Prosecuting, Tim Moores told the court Baptiste was with a girl he met on Tinder when he took her car without her consent after being invited to meet someone at 1.30am on October 21.

She alerted the police who spotted the car on the M27 later that same day.

“At 8pm in the evening the vehicle pinged a camera, Hampshire traffic units started to follow the vehicle down the M3.

“There is three marked police BMWs following the Ford Fiesta. It then starts the leave the motorway to junction eight.”

Mr Moores said police activated the lights and performed a box manoeuvre to stop Baptiste.

The defendant stopped and when an officer got out of the car and approached the Fiesta, Baptiste accelerated away, hitting one of the police cars.

He then headed towards Hedge End, travelling at 60mph in a 30mph zone before hitting an electricity pole in Alexandra Road, writing off the car.

Mr Moores added: “The defendant ran off but was apprehended soon afterwards. He was spitting blood, suffered facial injuries during the collision, it is fair to say he was non-cooperative.”

Mitigating, Aleksander Lloyd said Baptiste had no previous convictions and there was a delay in proceedings.

Judge Robert Pawson sentenced Baptiste to four months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He said: “I don’t know what possessed you to get in that Ford Fiesta and drive down from London.

“You were escorted off the motorway by three police cars, they boxed you in and you drove off having stopped, hitting one of the police cars.

“You then drove at a speed in excess of 60mph in a 30mph zone, a built-up area. The risks you were taking were enormous.

“You then crashed. It was a deliberate course of very bad driving, you were being chased by police.

“You don’t seem to understand the danger you put other people in, you have not shown any empathy.”

Baptiste was also ordered to carry out 20 rehabilitation requirement days and undertake 150 hours of unpaid work.

He must also pay £750 compensation to the owner of the Ford Fiesta.

Judge Pawson added: “It is the least you can do in all the circumstances, it is your fault it got written off.”