Labourer high on drugs goes on dump truck rampage when air conditioning breaks down

An English labourer high on drugs stole a dump truck and led police on a destructive 60km chase after being told to continue working after the air conditioning in the vehicle broke down .

Nicholas Churchill was high on amphetamines when he pinched the 20-tonne vehicle in July last year, the BBC reports.

He reportedly became enraged when the air conditioning in the dump truck he was operating broke down and he was told to carry on working anyway.

During sentencing at Norwich Crown Court yesterday it was revealed that it was only 13 degrees on the day of the rampage but Churchill felt hot as a result of the amphetamines he had taken.

Just released footage shot by police cars and a helicopter shows him ramming into police vehicles, writing two off and causing almost $100,000 worth of damage to a third.

One officer involved in the chase told the court that he thought he was going to die.

"I was petrified and never felt anything like this before in my career. I believe the vehicle was so large and heavy it could have driven over our police car," the officer told the court.

"In my 30-year career, I've been kicked, punched and spat at. I've never been so petrified," another officer involved in the pursuit said.

Officers tried to stop the vehicle with tyre-deflating stingers but the truck was so big they proved ineffective.

Churchill then swerved towards the officer who had just deployed the device, something he did repeatedly throughout the chase.

Churchill received a 14 month jail sentence after admitting aggravated vehicle-taking, dangerous driving, and driving while unfit through drugs.