A DRIVER has been jailed after smashing his way through a level crossing just seconds before a tram passed.

Bolton Crown Court heard how a tram passenger suffered a minor injury from flying glass after a window was struck by debris.

Andrew Evans, prosecuting, told how Anthony McWilliam’s dangerous driving began outside Bury Magistrates’ Court on May 30, 2014.

Scaffolder McWilliam had been appearing before magistrates on a theft charge but left the building at 2.30pm and climbed into a small, white, van.

After doing a handbrake turn and wheel spin near the court car park’s barrier, he hit the kerb and sped off through Bury.

But after hurtling along rural, twisting, Hinds Lane at Radcliffe he found the Metrolink level crossing barrier, which spans the road, closed.

A tram was expected but Mr Evans told how a frustrated McWilliam decided not to wait, reversing and ramming the barrier several times until it broke and driving over the level crossing just 20 seconds before a tram passed through at speed.

When the tram hit the barrier debris, a piece smashed one of the side windows and a female passenger got glass in her eye.

Damage to the tram and barrier has been estimated at £26,000.

Police traced the registered owner of the van as Daniel Walters, but he told them he had sold the vehicle to a work colleague. Gloating McWilliam phoned Mr Walters later to ask if police had been in touch.

“The defendant said that he thought he had got away with it,” said Mr Evans, who added that McWilliam told his colleague he had been drinking on the day of his court appearance, had set fire to the van and driven it into a river. The van has never been found.

At Bolton Crown Court, McWilliam pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice which related to him visiting the home of Mr Walters’ mother and aggressively asking where her son was.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson, heard that McWilliam had a number of previous convictions, including for driving offences.

Joseph Hart, defending, told the court: “He is acutely aware of the seriousness of his position.”

Mr Hart said that in 2014 McWilliam was binge drinking which led to him committing crimes.

“He did what he accepts were serious misguided acts of mindless criminality — he is profoundly ashamed of his behaviour,” said Mr Hart.

Mr Hart said that McWilliam, 28, of Spruce Crescent, Bury, has turned his life around since then and now prefers to go to the gym than the pub.

McWilliam was jailed for 18 months and banned from driving for three years and nine months. He will have to pass an extended driving test before he can regain a licence.