A MOTORIST who deliberately crashed into a lorry, seriously injuring its driver and causing a 60-tonne load to spill on to the road, has been jailed for more than three years.

Craig Thomson drove his Vauxhall Astra straight in to the path of the Scania HGV on the A82 just outside Luss in the middle of the afternoon one day in October.

The force of the crash caused the HGV, which was carrying four 15-tonne ballast plates, to career out of control and flip on to its roof, trapping the driver in the vehicle.

It took 40 minutes for fire crews to cut the man and Thomson from the wreckage of their respective vehicles, while two of the ballast plates blocked the carriageway and the other two blocked a layby.

Thomson appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Wednesday for sentencing, having admitted his guilt at a hearing on Deceember 7.

The 35-year-old, listed in court papers as a prisoner of Low Moss, had pleaded guilty at that earlier hearing to driving dangerously and causing serious injury to the lorry driver on October 10 this year.

He also failed to provide a specimen of blood when required.

In court on Wednesday, Thomson's defence solicitor, Brian McGuire, admitted there was little he could offer in mitigation for his client's actions, and that it appeared he wanted to avoid being sent back to prison.

Sheriff William Gallacher interjected that the results of the crash could have been "catastrophic" and that he saw "nothing mitigating about this offence".

Mr McGuire said: "His mind was somewhat disturbed at that time. His motivation was he would be returned to prison. There is certainly an element of selfishness.

"If he had a specific purpose on that day, he could have achieved that without involving others.

"He takes full responsibility for his actions and is remorseful for these actions. He has always sought to have the matter brought to the earliest possible conclusion."

He added: "He has brought about a situation on that day he was desperate to avoid."

Sheriff Gallacher said Thomson's "purpose was an utterly deliberate act".

He continued: "I see nothing to allow me to mitigate the sentence. It was almost inevitable you were going to cause serious injury to other people. This was an act that you inevitably caused harm.

"Your dangerousness was a very deliberate act that put this driver in peril. The road was catastrophic. None of that mattered to you - it was an act of utter selfishness."

He jailed Thomson for 40 months and disqualified him from driving for five years. Thomson will have to sit the extended test if he wants a licence again.

At the previous hearing, depute fiscal David McDonald explained: "The accused parked his Vauxhall Astra in a layby off the northbound carriageway on the A82, one mile north of Luss.

"As [the lorry driver] approached the layby the silver Vauxhall Astra drove straight out and in to the front of the HGV.

"He made attempts to swerve to avoid the accused's vehicle and a head-on collision and brakes and swerved violently to the nearside as the vehicles impacted offside to offside.

"The sheer weight and momentum of the HGV caused it to continue southbound whilst violently put of control."

The 60-tonne load was thrown from the vehicle and his lorry then flipped over, coming to a rest in the layby.

Officers raced to the scene to investigate and found both drivers trapped in their vehicles.

They then spoke to Thomson who said: "It didn't work, I'm still here."