Son of 'Big Fat Gypsy' star jailed for causing horror smash after eight-mile police chase

The son of ‘Big Fat Gypsy’ star Paddy Doherty has been jailed for causing a high-speed horror smash following an eight-mile police chase.

Martin Doherty, 20, son of former Big Brother winner Paddy, ploughed a stolen BMW M3 head-on into another car, leaving the driver hospitalised.

Last week Doherty was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for three years after he pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Jailing him, Judge Martin Walsh said he was fortunate his 'appalling' driving did not have 'catastrophic' consequences.

Yesterday West Midlands Police released a dash cam video showing the heart-stopping moment he careered into the car shortly before he was arrested on December 7, 2012.

Police spotted the black BMW, which had four passengers inside, driving erratically through the frozen streets of Dudley and Tipton in the West Midlands.

Doherty sped through road works, swerved to avoid oncoming traffic, bolted through busy traffic junctions and drove down the wrong side of the road during the eight-mile chase.

Prosecutor Zaheer Afzal told the court: 'He (Doherty) drove through roadworks and on the opposite side of the road towards oncoming traffic, overtaking other cars at excessive speed.

'It was a prolonged chase. Throughout the entire incident his driving was extremely erratic.'

Doherty was eventually arrested after he collided into a red Nissan Micra on the A4123, writing both vehicles off.

The impact of the crash sent the Micra spinning 180 degrees and left driver Ronald Gough trapped inside his wrecked vehicle.

He was cut out of the car and taken to hospital where he was treated for multiple injuries including bruising all over his body and pain in his legs, arms and chest.

It took him a month to make a full recovery, during which time he lost a stone in weight and struggled to walk.

Doherty and his accomplices were arrested a short distance away from the crash hiding in a garden.

The five defendants were not charged with the theft of the BMW which had been stolen in October, 2012.

The other four defendants, aged between 18 and 20, received suspended sentences and ordered to carry out unpaid work.

Adam Roxborough, defending Doherty, said: 'His father has taken him under his wing and is teaching him the building trade.

'He accepts fully his responsibility and knows the consequences could have been far worse.'

Speaking after his son was jailed, Paddy Doherty, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, said: 'I'm very sorry.

'What has happened should never have happened. What he did was wrong and he has got what he deserves.

'He could be dead. I am grateful to God for giving him back to me. He has learned his lesson and these days he is out working every day and keeping away from trouble.'

In March, the former bare knuckle boxing champion, 55, was himself given a six-month supervision order after he admitted head-butting his stepbrother at a funeral wake.