A DISQUALIFIED driver who repeatedly drove at high speeds into oncoming traffic while trying to evade police has been jailed.

Jack Dinnadge, 30, of Lodge Lane, Grays, made off from officers during two incidents in August, on both occasions driving against the flow of traffic.

Officers disengaged when continuing to pursue him would have increased the danger to innocent motorists.

But while the pursuits on the road ended, the hunt for Dinnadge did not.

An investigation led by the Essex Police Roads Policing Unit secured crucial CCTV evidence identifying Dinnadge as the driver and tracked him to a hotel in Thurrock, where he was arrested.

He was jailed for 18 months at Basildon Crown Court on Monday, 5 October.

At around 1am on 24 August, officers carrying out patrols in the Grays area spotted a silver Volkswagen Passat.

The Passat immediately made off at speed and officers lost sight of it after deciding it was unsafe to keep pace.

It was spotted again at around 1.20am in Stanford Road, where it reached speeds in excess of 100mph.

Around an hour later, the Passat was seen in The Manorway, travelling towards Corringham.

The driver performed a U-turn before driving against oncoming traffic along The Manorway towards the A13.

Officers again disengaged to prevent the situation becoming even more dangerous.

Three days later, shortly after 12.30am on 27 August, officers spotted the same Passat parked at a garage in the Purfleet area.

Once again, the driver made off from police.

He drove the wrong way around the Wennington Interchange roundabout before performing a U-turn at the entrance to a slip road.

He then entered the A13 via an off-slip and drove at speed against the flow of traffic.

Faced with an unacceptable risk to other road users, pursuing officers disengaged, switched off their emergency lights and continued at a safe distance on the correct carriageway.

Dashcam footage from another Essex Police officer travelling on the A13 captured the Passat coming towards him on the wrong side of the road.

It is believed the Passat travelled against the flow of traffic for three to four miles between Wennington and the Lakeside area.

While officers would not take unnecessary risks to continue the pursuit, work to identify and find the driver continued.

CCTV recovered from a garage showed Dinnadge getting into the driver's seat of the Passat on 27 August before driving away.

The car was later found abandoned in the Chafford Hundred area and seized for forensic examination.

In the early hours of 28 August, officers tracked Dinnadge to a hotel in Thurrock.

When approached by officers, he refused to provide his first name.

But investigators had already obtained his mobile phone number. When they called it, the phone he was carrying began to ring.

Dinnadge was arrested and, when later speaking about what had happened, described it as "cat and mouse".

At the time of the offences, Dinnadge was already disqualified from driving.

Dinnadge admitted two counts of dangerous driving, as well as drug driving, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified and obstructing a police officer.

At Basildon Crown Court on Monday, 5 October, he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment and disqualified from driving for a further three years and nine months.

He will also have to pass an extended retest before he can legally drive again.

The Passat was forfeited by the court.

The sentencing judge highlighted the recent loss of life in similar cases and said tragedy had only been avoided through "luck and the diligence of police officers who pursued you".

Adam Pipe, head of roads policing at Essex Police, said: "This is one of the most serious cases of blatant and selfish dangerous driving I have seen in my 30-year policing career.

"Dinnadge may have described what happened as 'cat and mouse', but there was nothing funny about what he did.

"He chose, not once but twice, to drive into oncoming traffic, putting completely innocent members of the public and police officers at risk.

"Our officers had decisions to make in seconds. Their priority throughout was protecting the public and, when continuing the pursuit would have increased the danger, they made the decision to disengage.

"But backing away did not mean giving up. Our officers continued working to identify Dinnadge, gather the evidence against him and find him.

"Hours after the second incident, he was in custody.

"Dinnadge was extremely fortunate nobody was killed or seriously injured as a result of his actions.

"This was not a game. Dangerous driving at these speeds can kill in an instant and leave families devastated forever. 36 people have lost their lives in fatal collisions on our roads so far in 2026.

"If somebody chooses to drive in this way, we will make the difficult operational decisions necessary to protect the public while doing everything we can to identify them and put them before the courts."