A man was jailed on Friday following his conviction for three offences of theft and one of dangerous driving when he had failed to stop for police following a report of shoplifting and led them on a chase down the A37 to Yeovil.

Benjamin Gullis (27), of East Stoke, a long-time heroin addict, was arrested when the pursuit ended at Yeovil College on November 24 last year, with police reporting that he was fortunate not to have lost control of the car.

He was charged with theft of some Lego on 11 November, some meat two days later and also theft of money his mum had been collecting for a charity caring for disabled children back in April. In a letter to court, his mum said she had replaced the £100 from her own pocket.

He entered guilty pleas for the two shoplifting charges and for dangerous driving.

Sitting at Taunton Crown Court, Judge David Ticehurst called Gullis “a thorough-going nuisance to society” because of his drug-taking when he sentenced him to a total of two years and nine months.

He received 15 months for dangerous driving, three months for each admitted charge of theft and 12 months for the theft of charity money.

After the hearing, Yeovil Inspector Tim Coombe said: “The driving displayed by Gullis on the day in question was extremely dangerous, including driving at speed on pathways on the Yeovil College campus.

“It was only luck that no one was seriously injured whilst he tried to evade arrest by the police. Gullis can only be described as a serial offender and I am glad to see that he has been handed a custodial sentence for these latest offences.”