A drunk driver who admitted using his car as a battering ram against Police on traffic control was yesterday sent to prison for two years and fined $1,000.

Sharif Boyd Taylor, 31, according to Senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale, was seen by reflective vest-wearing, flashlight-carrying officers, on October 5, 2006, driving past by their checkpoint on North Shore Road, in his car.

Taylor, of Aubrey Road, Hamilton Parish, was travelling west, near the Trinity Church, in an erratic manner, forcing nearby vehicles to evade him.

At one point, he slowed down next to the officer, who yelled for him to stop, but Taylor accelerated away, Magistrates' Court heard. Minutes later, the officer spotted the same car Taylor had been driving coming towards the check point.

The officer again signalled for him to slow down after Taylor manoeuvred around other vehicles, which he did.

He told the Policeman 'What the f**k is the problem boy?' before attempting to accelerate away, but the officer had jumped onto the hood of the car while Taylor sped away at an estimated 56 kph.

During the getaway, the officer used his flashlight to smash the car's windshield in an effort to have Taylor stop the car, however, Taylor continued driving at high speeds leaving the officer fearing for his life.

Some distance away, the officer lost his grip from the hood and was flung to the side of the road, suffering road rash and a "throbbing pain" in his head.

Later, Police managed to locate Taylor inside his vehicle, which had dents on it.

When they approached Taylor, they smelled alcohol on his breath. Subsequently after arrested, he was identified as the driver by the officer he injured.

He was charged with failing to comply with Police demands to give a breath sample and assaulting a Police officer, with his vehicle. Since the incident, he has been on remand. The Crown recommended that he be given a six to 12-month prison sentence for the assault, to run concurrently to the time he has already served.

His lawyer, Elizabeth Christopher, argued that her client was drunk at the time and was without the criminal intent to injure anyone, given the fact he returned to the Police checkpoint after ditching them earlier on.

Ms Christopher also suggested that Taylor may have been startled when the Police officer used his flashlight to shine it in his face and called the Crown's suggestion of a six to 12-month prison term, "excessive."

The court heard that Taylor, at the time of the incident, was out on parole from prison, relating to another conviction.

Mr. Warner rejected Ms Christopher's rationale and handed down a two-year sentence, to run concurrently, disqualifying him from all vehicles for 12 months, plus a $1,000 fine for refusing Police a breath sample.