A CWMBRAN man who took police on a five-mile high speed car chase because he was stressed and in a "strange mood" has avoided jail.

Twenty-year-old Tristan Chapman, of St Andrews Close, Pontrhydyrun, reached speeds of up to 70 mph as he sped away from police in December last year.

He mounted a kerb to speed past police cars, drove the wrong way round a roundabout and even took them past Gwent Police headquarters on Turnpike Road.

The court heard how he was driving without a licence, had no insurance and had stolen £15 of petrol the night before from Shell garage on Henllys Way.

Chapman appeared at Newport Crown Court today and was sentenced to 16 months in jail, suspended for two years. He was also banned from driving for three years.

He had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and making off without payment.

The driving rampage happened in the early hours of the morning on December 19 last year while he was in a Ford Escort which he bought just two days before.

Police spotted him and signalled for him to stop but he sped off for five miles on a seven-minute police chase.

He drove round the wrong side of the roundabout at Five Locks and ignored traffic lights. It ended when the car lost control and spun across a footpath and into shrubbery.

The court heard how Chapman said he was stressed, in a strange mood and acted on impulse.

His defence barrister said Chapman, who installs ventilation systems, was sorry and said it was stupid and reckless.

Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “It’s often said that the worst frame of mind to drive in is temper and you allowed your temper to get the better of you and you took it out on the road.

“Nobody seems to understand why, other than temper and panic, why you drove this way on that particular night.”