A drug user has been jailed for attacking a motorist and then lashing out and spitting at the police who were sent to arrest him.

Matthew Lewis walked out in front of a car as it drove through the centre of Exmouth and kicked the bodywork after the driver was forced to make an emergency stop to avoid him.

He hit the driver in the face with a can when he got out to investigate and then vented his rage on three police who rushed to the scene to detain him.

He scratched, kicked and headbutted the officers and carried on trying to spit at them during the 40 minutes it took to pacify him.

At one stage, he managed to wriggle out of a spit hood so he could carry on his attack while telling the police that he had Hepatitis C and HIV.

He lost his temper again when they tried to interview him back at the station, smashing the digital recording device and causing £655 damage.

Lewis, aged 31, of Morton Road, Exmouth, admitted causing actual bodily harm to the driver, criminal damage to his car, three assaults on emergency workers and criminal damage to the recording machine.

He was jailed for a total of 13 months by Judge David Evans, who told him: “Other people were present in the street in the middle of the day in the centre of Exmouth and you were under the influence of intoxicants.”

Mr Thomas Faulkner, prosecuting, said the driver of the car needed stitches to a gash in his head after the attack on November 13 this year.

The police suffered bruising to heads, or legs and a scratch to a hand and were disgusted at being spat at. The struggle to arrest Lewis took 40 minutes and his violence continued when he was in the station.

Mr Lee Bremridge, defending, said Lewis has struggled with issues of drug addiction and mental health but is hoping to address them while in custody.

He had a troubled childhood and started using drugs when he was just 12 but hopes for more support after his release.