A DISQUALIFIED driver who crashed his car outside West Monkton Primary School has been spared a jail sentence.

Father-of-two Ryan Cribben, 21, of Eastwick Road in Taunton charged with dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and using a motor vehicle without insurance. 

On the morning of December 15 last year, Cribben borrowed a car to give a friend a lift to work, and was spotted by the police driving without number plates on the car driving near North Petherton.

William Hunter, speaking for the prosecution, said: "The police activated their sirens and the Ford Focus accelerated. Cribben proceeded to drive on the wrong side of the road, drove at 90mph in a 50mph area along Bridgwater Road as he headed toward Monkton Heathfield."

Cribben drove the wrong way around a roundabout and eventually lost control of the car outside West Monkton Primary School, crashing into the car of a father who had just dropped his nine-year-old son off at school, the court heard.

Fortunately no-one was injured in the crash, and Emma Martin, defending Cribben, said the young man was remorseful for his actions.

"He was giving a friend a lift and completely panicked when he saw the sirens,", Mrs Martin said.

"His time in prison has been a wake up call - he has missed his child's first Christmas and wants to be a responsible father," she said.

Sentencing Cribben, Judge David Ticehurst said it was 'more by luck than judgement' that no-one was killed that day.

"You could easily have killed a child or one of the parents, and all for the sake of taking a mate to work. Your actions were reckless," Judge Ticehurst said.

Judge Ticehurst sentenced Cribben to a total of 22 months in prison, suspended for two years. He ordered to adhere to a curfew, disqualified from driving for two years and will have to take an extended retest.