Newport driver jailed again after caught driving whilst banned

A Newport man who was jailed earlier this year for dangerous driving that nearly caused a fatal crash has been handed another prison sentence after being caught driving whilst disqualified.

Michael Tufft, 40, of Marlowe Gardens, was locked up for 18 months in August after he injured his ex-girlfriend, another woman and a rugby coach following a collision at Newport’s Pont Ebbw roundabout in November 2022.

But the defendant was back in court this month after admitting driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance in an MG HS SUV on Rowan Way, Caerleon on Wednesday, May 28 this year.

At Newport Magistrates’ Court, Tufft was jailed for eight weeks, banned from driving for three years and 28 days, and ordered to pay a £154 surcharge and £85 costs.

The court heard how in the 2022 incident, Tufft had ploughed into rugby development officer Christopher Cornford’s car after speeding and ignoring two sets of traffic lights. He had been, according to one witness, driving like a “d***head”.

Tufft climbed out of the window of his Seat Altea and fled the scene, leaving behind his victims. The two women in his car had to be cut free by firefighters.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Mr Cornford sustained “whiplash-style injuries” and described being in a state of shock.

Tufft has 34 previous convictions for 96 offences, including dangerous driving and drink driving.

Judge Paul Hobson told him: “You drove in excess of the speed limit and through two traffic lights at a roundabout in Newport. This was a serious collision which could very easily have been fatal based on the photographs I have seen showing the state of the two vehicles after the emergency services had attended.”

The judge added: “Making off in that way was entirely selfish and an utterly cowardly act of which you should be ashamed and is an aggravating feature in this case.”

Tufft made national headlines in 2022 when a Gwent Police appeal to find him attracted thousands of comments from smitten women, with some even offering to “hide” him in their homes.