A DRUG COURIER who almost collided with the gatehouse of a glassworks while trying to escape police at the wheel of his girlfriend's car was jailed last week.

Dad-of-one Jordan Conway, 26, of Sorley's Brae, Dollar, Clackmannanshire, was carrying cannabis and amphetamine worth more than £11,000 when officers signalled him to stop for dazzling them with undipped headlights.

He accelerated to more than double the speed limit as officers followed, during a mile-long pursuit in Alloa.

At the end of a straight near the bottle factory on Glasshouse Loan, Alloa, he was going so fast he could not safely take a sharp left-hand bend, and veered onto the wrong side of the road, mounting the kerb.

Prosecutor Samantha Brown told Falkirk Sheriff Court: "A member of security staff at the gatehouse of glassworks observed the manner of the accused's driving and felt it necessary to move from his seat and retreat further back into the room as he was concerned the vehicle might collide with the gatehouse."

The 19-year-old silver Golf Gti was then driven the wrong way round a mini-roundabout, before Conway lost control and mounted a central reservation on nearby Lime Tree Walk, colliding with three trees.

He ran off on foot, chased by one of two officers, but got away in an area of woodland. He was traced and arrested later.

Police found a cardboard box behind the driver's seat of the "extensively damaged" Golf, which contained nine one-ounce bags of herbal cannabis and almost a kilogramme of amphetamine.

Ms Brown said the drugs had a street value of up to £11,500.

The incident occurred about 11pm on March 28.

Conway pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and being concerned in the supply of drugs.

Alistair Burleigh, defending, said that at the time Conway had himself been using about an ounce of cannabis a week, and had been acting as a drug delivery driver.

He said: "He was due money to those who were supplying him, so he agreed to courier."

Sheriff John Mundy jailed Conway for 27 months, banned him from driving for the same period, and ordered him to re-sit his test before getting back behind the wheel.

He added Conway had a record for drugs offences, saying: "This is a very serious matter in my view and it was a very bad piece of driving as well.

"If you take the risk of being a drug courier, this is what happens."

Conway looked shocked as he was handcuffed to a security guard and led down the stairs from the dock to the cells.