A driver without a licence or insurance who caused an accident that put the lives of a group of schoolgirls in danger has been jailed for 16 months.

Sean McFetridge claimed he was being chased by two men when he sped on the wrong side of the road in a Vauxhall Vectra and hit another car.

He then struck a van which demolished a bus stop sign that narrowly missed one of the eight girls waiting there.

The driver told Maidstone Crown Court after hearing an explosion and being struck, he was concerned he had killed the girl.

McFetridge climbed out of his window and ran off up the road and fled into a house in Upper Fant Road, Maidstone, with others in pursuit.

Prosecutor Ian Foinette said the 35-year-old had his girlfriend with him as he flashed his lights, sounded his horn and tried to get other traffic to give way as he drove along Tonbridge Road on the afternoon of October 5 2016

The Mitsubishi 4x4 driven by Matthew Bunker he hit head-on was sent crashing into the van, which then demolished the bus stop sign.

Mr Foinette said after McFetridge climbed out of his damaged car and ran to the house, he asked for the police to attend.

Another car also arrived which he claimed contained the two men he was trying to escape from.

“At no stage during this incident when he thought he was being pursued by people intent on harming him, did he or his girlfriend make any attempt to use their telephone to summon assistance,” Mr Foinette told the jury.

“There was no attempt to pull over somewhere safe, rather than indulging in the kind of driving he did. He told police the only option he had was drive and get away from the people he thought were intent on causing him some harm.

“The Crown says it didn’t give him carte blanche to drive in the way he did.”

Mr Bunker, who said he had been given the 4x4 as a birthday present by his wife on his retirement, told how the Vectra suddenly braked and then bounced backwards into him.

“The person driving it was waving his arms,” he said. “He seemed to be animated. He was shouting, saying: ‘Get out of the way.’ My vehicle was written off. I had whiplash.”

Mr Bunker said only railings at the bus stop prevented the sign hitting the girl. He went after McFetridge to find him.

McFetridge, of Upper Fant Road, denied dangerous driving, claiming he was under duress at the time. The jury deliberated for seven hours before finding him guilty on Monday.

Mr Foinette said McFetridge had 17 previous convictions for 29 offences. He was jailed for 10 years in 2005 for rape.

Peter Eguae, defending, said the father-of-two drove that way because he was “scared for his life”.

He added: “If given immediate custody he is unlikely to see one of his children again. It is not to tug at the heartstrings of the court.”

Judge Heather Baucher told McFetridge: “You said you were being chased. Ultimately, you were chased by Mr Bunker whose vehicle was written off.

“You were not even fit to be driving this car. Those of us who sustain losses cannot recover them by conventional means of insurance.

“It follows that this offence is so serious the only possible sentence is custody.”

McFetridge will be banned from driving for two years on his release and he will have to take an extended test before he can drive again.