A STOW-on-the-Wold man who admitted ‘driving like an idiot’ twice on the same day as he pursued two women motorists has been jailed for 20 months.

Simon Stanley, 30 of Sterling Close, Stow was found guilty by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday of two charges of dangerous driving on May 12 on the A429 and the A424, and at Batsford Road in Moreton in the Marsh.

The jury also found him guilty of possessing a knife in a public place on the same date.

The court heard during the four-day trial that after a heated discussion between Stanley and a passenger in one of the women motorists cars - the pair drove off and within minutes Stanley was behind her vehicle at the bottom of Stow Hill.

She said: “I waited at a set of traffic lights when he drove in front of me and he began slamming on the brakes. It was definitely road rage.

“I spotted a right turn and I put my foot down and sped away, but Stanley followed and got closer and closer and drew alongside my car as if he were trying to hit me.

“The only thing I could do was to go even faster, up to 100mph, I kept my foot down.

“When I noticed he couldn’t catch me up I turned into a country lane and phoned the police who arrived within five minutes.”

In the second incident about an hour later, a motorist was with boyfriend in Moreton-in-Marsh when Stanley arrived and confronted him.

She said: "Stanley was 'raging' and began thumping at the window and shouting obscenities.

“I drove off down the High Street with Stanley in hot pursuit. I very nearly hit a Porsche at a mini roundabout whereupon Stanley overtook me before the next mini roundabout.

“As I pulled away Stanley was still trying to run me off the road. He then rammed his car into the back on my car. It wasn’t a big impact, but it was enough to know that I had been hit.

“I kept my foot down and accelerated along the A429 the Fosse for about 10 miles and it wasn’t until I was well into Worcestershire that I stopped and spoke to the police again.”

Prosecutor Alex Daymond told the jury that there were two different sets of witnesses and their evidence bore ‘quite striking similarities’.

Judge Recorder Paul Dunkels QC said to Stanley: “You undoubtedly lost your temper. You were angry and you behaved aggressively to those who you were in dispute with.

“I’ve no doubt each of them was terrified by your dangerous driving and both had to take evasive action to get away from you.

“Your dangerous driving could have resulted in a serious accident.

“I also have to sentence you for having a knife in a public place, a kitchen knife with an overall length of six inches. You did not use it to threaten anyone.

The judge jailed Stanley for 20 months, disqualified him from driving for 22 months and ordered him to take an extended driving test at the end of his disqualification period.