A 'PERSISTENT fraudster' fled police in a high speed chase with his pregnant partner in the passenger seat during one of the worst examples of dangerous driving a judge had ever seen.

Joseph Williams, who goes by a number of different aliases, including Joseph Jones, was jailed at Worcester Crown Court and will miss the birth of his child as a result.

The 26-year-old, of Comberton Road, Kidderminster, admitted five frauds, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without third party insurance and failing to surrender to bail after he did not attend his previous trial and was convicted in his absence.

Rachel Pennington, prosecuting, said the dangerous driving began at Craven Arms, Shropshire, on June 28 this year and covered a distance of around 21 miles.

Miss Pennington said: "He strayed across the central line on the road, overtook on double white lines with limited or no view, causing oncoming vehicles to brake or take avoiding action."

At one stage the defendant, who has never had a driving licence, also went the wrong way around a roundabout and drove in excess the speed limits.

He was eventually stopped by police using spikes to puncture the tyres. Despite this, he continued to drive on 'shredded' tyres.

A police officer ultimately performed a tactical manoeuvre to push him onto the verge and even then Williams tried to reverse to get away.

Miss Pennington said: "The defendant was arrested at the scene and identified as the driver. It was then police learned there was a female passenger present with him in the van. She was seven months pregnant at the time."

The five fraud by false representation offences took place at Timber Services in King's Lynn between March 26 and April 7, 2015.

He set up a credit account with a £3,000 limit under the name of Springhill Tree Management in Whitchurch by pretending to be the owner and manager of the company.

Williams then used the credit account to secure £2,397 of goods for himself including fence panels and equipment such as a gas wood nailer.

The defendant was identified through a photograph of his vehicle.

Williams has 13 convictions for 66 offences including 14 fraud and kindred offences.

Jason Aris, defending, asked that his client be given credit for his early guilty pleas and accepted the evidence against him had been 'compelling'.

He said the unborn child would have health problems and require surgery and the defendant 'wasn't thinking very clearly at the time' and felt he had to take his wife to hospital immediately.

"He's extremely embarrassed and wishes to convey his remorse to the court," said Mr Aris. He said Williams understood he will probably miss the birth of his child.

Judge Robert Juckes QC described the fraud as 'arrogant' and told the defendant he had 'a significantly bad record for fraud'.

The defendant had used several different dates of birth ranging between 1977 and 1997.

He said: "This man is a persistent fraudster who pays no attention to what the courts do to try and stop him."

The judge said that during a previous trial for fraud the defendant had not turned up, 'yet again indicating what his attitude is'.

Williams had told the court he was on his way but never arrived, which the judge said 'seems to typify your attitude to courts and your approach to the system of justice generally'.

He said the dangerous driving is 'amongst the worst I have had outlined to me', including excessive speed though a built-up area in a large goods vehicle, and 'could have resulted in the worst possible consequences'.

Judge Juckes jailed him for 50 months and banned him from driving for five years, starting when Williams is released on licence.

Because of the dangerous driving conviction, Williams must also complete an extended driving retest.