JUST seven hours after leaving prison for similar offences, relentless car criminal Darrell Lambert was back behind the wheel, over the drink-drive limit and crashing into a police car!

JUST seven hours after leaving prison for similar offences, relentless car criminal Darrell Lambert was back behind the wheel, over the drink-drive limit and crashing into a police car!

He had been dropped off by police at his home in Ipswich to make sure he started life on the straight and narrow after his fifth sentence for dangerous driving.

But with the police officers barely out his front door, the 22-year-old got back into a car while over the alcohol limit and committed a carbon copy of the perilous offence he had just been behind bars for.

Today he is preparing for yet more time inside after reversing into a police car and nearly running over an officer as they pursued him on May 11.

It mirrored his previous crime when he led officers on a chase during which he went through red lights and forced two police cars out of the way before crashing into a hedge.

A judge said the father-of-two was lucky not to have killed someone.

But he showed no regard for that warning when he got behind the wheel just hours after officers had taken him home from prison.

Their colleagues tailed Lambert's Peugeot after spotting the driver covering his face as he drove past them along Celestion Drive, off Foxhall Road, in Ipswich at around 6pm.

The cops cornered him, but Lambert refused to get out of the car. While officers tried to kick the driver's-side door open, Lambert reversed into the police car and sped at Pc Nick Rush.

In a statement read out at in court, Pc Rush said: “The driver wheel-spinned and drove at me. I had to jump out of the path of the vehicle to avoid being hit.”

Lambert, of Hawke Road, Ipswich, was found at an address shortly afterwards wearing the same clothes as the driver of the car.

He initially denied his involvement and claimed he had swapped his outfit with another person, but later held his hands up.

Appearing via video link at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, he admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance.

He also pleaded guilty to drink-driving after being caught with 52microgrammes of alcohol in 100militres of breath - the legal limit is 35mcg - and breaching an anti-social behaviour order.

Lambert's remand in custody has been extended until he is sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on a date which has yet to be fixed.

His sorry list of convictions includes six for dangerous driving and 12 for driving while disqualified. He has also been jailed for a string of car thefts.

Have you been a victim of Lambert's crime wave? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk