A violent arsonist from Swanley who torched a caravan and drove into pedestrians in two separate incidents has been jailed for five years.

On the night of August 4 last year, Lee Rice, 33, of Hockenden Lane, assaulted a woman at a caravan in Parsonage Lane, Dartford.

A member of the public heard the incident and intervened as he feared for the woman's safety.

He was also assaulted by Rice before driving the woman away from the scene.

Rice then followed the pair in his own vehicle and attempted to force them off the road.

Later that night he went to the Greenwich home of the man who came to the woman’s aid and stabbed his car tyres with a knife before going on to set the caravan alight.

When the man attended the scene, with two other members of the public, Rice attempted to run each of them over with his car.

Police were called but Rice drove away at speed and went into hiding.

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On September 17, officers on patrol saw Rice driving dangerously on a roundabout which joins the A249 and junction 5 of the M2.

Rice drove away at speeds up to 150mph.

A police helicopter tracked the vehicle for around 10 minutes before he drove into stationary traffic in Rochester.

Rice mounted the pavement and hit members of the public before crashing into railings and coming to a stop.

Prior to mounting the pavement, he had hit a car which an off-duty police officer was travelling in.

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A foot pursuit took place and the off-duty officer was able to detain him.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Rice was found guilty of affray, dangerous driving, arson and damaging property.

He had previously admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and dangerous driving.

In addition to the custodial sentence, he was also disqualified from driving for six years.

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Detective Constable Steve Brown said: "Rice has shown himself to be a dangerous offender who is prepared to injure other members of the public to try and evade justice.

"The consequences of his actions could easily have been fatal.

"The sentence imposed by the court is entirely justified and means he is no longer able to endanger innocent members of the public."