A DANGEROUS driver who left his pregnant girlfriend with life-changing injuries jumped back behind the wheel of a car while still banned.

Samuel Nicholas, 26, from Caldicot, was caught driving whilst disqualified after being spared an immediate prison term.

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The defendant was jailed for 24 months, suspended for 24 months, two years ago for causing his then girlfriend Hannah Gollop serious injury by dangerous driving.

He was also banned from driving for four years after he admitted the offence which saw his victim suffer multiple skull fractures and serious injuries to her vertebrae and leg.

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At Nicholas’ sentencing hearing in September 2019, Newport Crown Court heard how she struggled to walk unaided and had to give up her job as a waitress.

The defendant crashed his Volvo C30 on Chepstow’s Itton Road in November 2018 after he was spotted driving at 80mph in a 30mph zone.

Nicholas ploughed into a tree when he lost control of his car on the country road during a police chase.

He avoided going straight to jail after the court heard he was the full-time carer for his victim.

Nicholas was before a judge again after he pleaded guilty to driving a Vauxhall Astra whilst disqualified, two counts of resisting arrest, driving without insurance and being in breach of the suspended prison sentence.

The offences were committed in Newport on September 15, 2020.

Cardiff Crown Court previously heard how the defendant and Miss Gollop were no longer together.

Nicholas, of Station Road, Rogiet, was handed an 18-month community order by Recorder Dyfed Llion Thomas.

The defendant must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was also banned from driving for three months and ordered to pay £420 prosecution costs and a £95 victim surcharge.