A MAN was caught with cannabis plants in his car after a high-speed crash with TV talk-show host Jeremy Kyle.

Darren Shannon later tried to escape while being driven to a police station, cracking the car's windscreen and causing it to swerve dangerously.

Shannon claimed the crash happened because he was rushing to apologise to his girlfriend, who he had pushed into a canal a day earlier before filming and laughing at her.

Shannon, 36, told officers he "didn't think it mattered very much because she was already wet from the rain," prosecutor John Fountain told Nottingham Crown Court.

Shannon, of Briar Lane, Retford, was sentenced to a total of 15 months in prison for five separate charges.

As well as possession of class C drugs, the escape charge and common assault against his girlfriend, he pleaded guilty to abstracting electricity worth £267 by tampering with his meter, and handling a stolen laptop.

But he faced no charges for the smash with Mr Kyle, which was described as a "horrific, high-speed car crash." It happened at around 2pm on July 21.

Mr Kyle's BMW collided with Shannon's Mazda MX3 on the A1 near Blyth. Mr Kyle's car ended up on the central reservation, while Shannon's landed upside down in a ditch.

Both were unhurt, but five cannabis plants were later found in the Mazda.

Police arrested Shannon on September 5. They wanted to speak to him about a number of matters.

Prosecutor Mr Fountain said: "While the police car was travelling between 60 and 65 mph, Shannon lunged forward, seized hold of the steering wheel, shouted 'right you, let's crash this car' and tried to steer it into the central reservation."

An officer wrestled with Shannon, and the driver punched him in the head.

After Shannon kicked out, causing the windscreen to crack, the driver was "forced to pull over in a very unsafe position," Mr Fountain told the court.

Stuart Rafferty, defending, said Shannon had since made amends with his partner.

The pair had been arguing over the naming of their child when he pushed her into the canal.

Shannon was jailed for twelve months for the escape charge, two months for the handling stolen property and one month for the assault. He was given no separate penalty for abstracting the electricity or the drugs charges.

Judge Trevor-Jones said: "A catastrophe could have happened because of what you did. The car was travelling in heavy traffic and in wet conditions. This was an attempt by you to get out of that car. One can't even begin to think of what kind of injuries might have been sustained."

caroline.lowbridge@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk