Van driver wrote off police car in ram attack in Coventry

Paul Neelan was found guilty of two counts of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm

A police car door was torn off after being rammed by a van driver who was high on drugs at the time.

Paul Neelan, 29, was seen driving erratically through Coventry during the early hours of New Year's Day.

When he was pursued by police, he put the van into reverse and rammed the car six times, injuring two officers.

Neelan, of Cedars Avenue in Coventry, has been found guilty of two counts of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm and will be sentenced on 4 March.

A door was torn off the patrol car, which had to be written off

West Midlands Police said he caused £15,000 worth of damage to the patrol car, which had to be written off.

The officers had encountered him in Hancock Green at about 01:45 GMT as they were responding to reports of serious disorder.

After ramming the car, Neelan crashed his own van on a roundabout and fled the scene. He was found a short while later in a garden wearing only his underwear.

"This was a shocking attack on two officers who were heading to the scene of a disorder to protect members of the public," Det Con Bally Kaur said.

"One of the officers had to be carried off on a spinal board but thankfully they turned out not to be seriously injured.

"Neelan could easily have injured more people and caused a serious crash as he sped away high on drugs."