A MAN who hit a pedestrian and crashed into a wall following a police chase has been sent to prison.

Gentjan Lalaj, 21, hit a pedestrian in Bevois Hill March this year.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Lalaj was being chased by a police car and was driving at 50mph in a 30mph zone.

He hit Thomas Carey, a utility surveyor who was crossing the road and was wearing a visibility jacket.

The court heard how Mr Carey spent 12 days in hospital with serious injuries including a broken nose and knees injuries that have not enabled him to work.

Defending, Unyime Davies said Lalaj had no previous convictions and neither alcohol nor drugs were found in his blood at the time of the incident.

Judge Nicholas Rowland sentencing said:"You were driving dangerously on a Southampton road.

"The police were trying to stop you but they had to give up because you were driving so dangerously.

"Mr Carey was working hard and that injuries could have been far more serious or even worse than that.

"Nothing but an immediate custody sentence can be justified in this case. "

Lalaj of Gervase Close, London, was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and given a three-year prison sentence.