Thomas Nolan sentenced for police pursuit

A Dubbo cop car was forced off the streets after a 36-year-old man rammed into it and led cops on a dangerous high-speed pursuit across the city.

Thomas Nolan rammed his car into a police vehicle in Dubbo. Picture: Facebook

A Dubbo man who deliberately rammed the rear of a police vehicle will spend Christmas behind bars after he was sentenced for triggering a dangerous pursuit across the city.

Thomas Edward Nolan, 36, was seen driving erratically on Thompson Street in May last year, when police directed him to pull over for a breath test.

Thomas Nolan triggered a dangerous police pursuit in Dubbo. Picture: Facebook

Nolan’s learner driver’s licence expired six years ago and according to court documents, he refused to stop and was clocked doing 80km/h in 50km/h zones in residential streets as police pursued him.

At the intersection of Erskine Street and Wheelers Lane, Nolan crossed onto the wrong side of the road, entered a roundabout and forced multiple other drivers to pull over.

The car Nolan was driving eventually broke down on Braun Avenue, however as police started to exit their vehicle to apprehend Nolan, he was able to restart the car.

Nolan rammed the rear of the vehicle police were in and later lost control of his car on Lunar Avenue.

Afterwards, Nolan ran into a random backyard and tried to jump a fence as he was chased and successfully caught by police.

In court documents, police who searched the car said they found 13.8 grams of MDMA inside.

The police vehicle was so badly damaged it had to be taken off the road and sent to a smash repairer.

Nolan pleaded guilty to one count of failing to stop and triggering a dangerous police pursuit, and one count of using an offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention.

The court heard Nolan was a drug addict who had stopped using ice and was slowly reducing his cannabis intake.

A police car was badly damaged. Picture: Supplied

Magistrate Gary Wilson said a sentencing assessment report concluded Nolan was a medium to high risk of offending.

He said Nolan’s conduct had endangered the lives of other road users and full-time imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence.

Nolan was convicted and sentenced to 12 months in jail.

He will be eligible for parole in August 2021.