Man 'laughed' when he was shown CCTV footage of his dangerous driving

A DRIVER led police on three separate dangerous pursuits in the space of just two weeks, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS Court and crime reporter

During the spree of offending James Osmond hit multiple cars, “forced” his way through traffic, raced through red lights, and narrowly avoided knocking down pedestrians.

When shown CCTV footage of his driving following his arrest he laughed at the clips.

At the time of the offending, Osmond was out of prison on licence following his involvement in a gang attack which saw two men stabbed and cars smashed with baseball bats.

Swansea Crown Court heard the defendant had previous convictions for aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, affray, and conspiracy to supply drugs, but the 25-year-old’s barrister told the court he had now disassociated himself from his previous peer group and negative influences and “simply wants to get back to being a dad and a provider”

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told the court that at 4.30pm on January 13 this year plain-clothes police officers in an unmarked vehicle were keeping watch on the activities of known drug-users around Swansea's Dyfatty flats as part of the on-going Operation Sceptre initiative.

He said the officers became suspicious of the movements of a Nissan Navara pickup and followed it as it drove into the city centre.

The court heard the pickup stopped outside the Eli Jenkins pub in Oxford Street and a woman got out.

At that point the officers alighted their vehicle and approached the Nissan - Osmond responded by speeding off and going through a red traffic light at the junction with Dillwyn Street, narrowly avoiding pedestrians who were crossing the road.

The officers followed the Nissan as it sped along The Kingsway and onto Christina Street and then Walter Road at which point they lost sight of it. The details of the pickup were circulated to fellow officers.