A banned driver who led police on a 100mph chase claimed he was concerned about his pregnant girlfriend.

Barry Chambers, 20, was spotted by police in September and asked by officers to follow them for checks because there was no insurance on his Alfa Romeo.

Instead, he sped away with pregnant Jazmine Lehane by his side, driving past five vehicles on the wrong side of the road.

Prosecutor Robert De Banzie told Canterbury Crown Court: “It was clear that he had no intention of stopping, driving in a 60mph limit at between 90 to 100mph.”

Chambers, of Walmer Road, Whitstable, later claimed that he was only driving the Alfa Romeo – which did not have a rear number plate - because of feared pregnancy complications with Miss Lehane.

But Judge James O’Mahony retorted: “I am sorry, I don’t accept that. That just doesn’t make sense.

“They were stopped in traffic and if there was an emergency then all he had to do was explain to the police officer, who would have helped. Instead he chose to drive in this appallingly reckless manner.”

During the chase along the A28 Canterbury Road, Chambers forced other drivers to swerve to avoid head-on collisions.

Mr De Banzie said that as the Romeo hit speeds of up to 100mph and headed towards a bend in the road, officers feared a child may also have been inside the car and halted the chase.

But a short while later, the police discovered the abandoned vehicle in Occupation Road in Wye and then spotted Chambers and Miss Lehane running across fields.

Chambers committed the offences in breach of a suspended sentence for assaulting his partner.

The prosecutor said he had grabbed her around the throat while she was holding their first child in her arms.

She lost consciousness during the attack, which ended with him kicking her four times.

After the car chase, he was searched and found to be carrying a knuckleduster.

Chambers admitted driving dangerously, while disqualified, without insurance or a licence and in possession of an offensive weapon.

Kate Chidgeon, defending, said Chambers had hoped to be at the birth of his second child next year, but the judge retorted: “That’s not going to happen, and he has only himself to blame for that.”

He was jailed for a total of two years and banned from driving for the same period, which will only start after his release.

Judge O’Mahony added that Chambers had risked the lives of other motorists, the police, himself and his pregnant girlfriend.

As he was being led away to start his sentence, he turned to his weeping lover in the public gallery and shouted: “Love you.”