A SERIAL dangerous driver has been jailed and banned from driving until 2030 after leading police on a high speed chase before crashing his car into a lamppost on Musselburgh High Street.

Jye Slater raced through streets in Edinburgh at speeds of up to 80mph as he attempted to get away from pursuing police officers in January last year.

Slater, 22, drove a series of red lights on several capital streets before entering Musselburgh where he eventually lost control of his Skoda Octavia on the town’s High Street.

Slater smashed into a lamppost and span into several 360 degree spins before the vehicle came to a halt.

The motorist was not wearing a seat belt and Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told he was saved from serious injury due to the car’s airbags being deployed.

Slater was arrested and then taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for a check up before being taken to the city’s St Leonard’s police station where he was arrested and charged.

He appeared from custody at the capital’s sheriff court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving.

The court was told Slater is already serving a 37-month prison sentence for a previous dangerous driving offence that involved driving a vehicle straight at a policeman.

On Thursday, Sheriff Kevin McCarron described his driving as “frankly outrageous” and jailed him for a total of 20 months and banned him from driving for 80 months.

The court was told that police in a marked patrol car spotted Slater driving past them at about 1.45am on January 24 last year.

A check showed the vehicle was uninsured and, as they pursued the vehicle on the city’s Bonnybridge Drive, Slater failed to stop and sped away from them.

He drove through two sets of red lights on Milton Road after turning his lights off and was said to have hit speeds of 70mph in a 30mph zone.

Further sets of officers joined the chase and the court heard the driver travelled at 80mph on Willowbrae Road before heading for Portobello where he drove through more red light signals.

He was said to have “narrowly avoided collisions” with parked cars and straddled lanes before he eventually made his way into Musselburgh.

Slater, of Clermiston, Edinburgh, then lost control of the Skoda after again hitting 80mph when he mounted a pavement and struck a lamppost at the town’s High Street.

The court heard he was the only occupant of the car and following his arrest a large knife was discovered within the vehicle.

His solicitor Chris McFarlane said that the high speed chase had lasted for about 10 minutes and came after Slater had been thrown out of his house by his partner following a row.

He added that his client had “panicked” after seeing the police vehicle and decided to make off.

Slater pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and with no insurance and to possessing a knife, all on January 24 last year.

The court was told this was the fourth dangerous driving offence committed by Slater.