A dangerous driver has been jailed for 11 years and nine months for mowing down an armed police officer in his Mercedes.

Aydin Altun, 26, was facing arrest at gunpoint in Tottenham on October 29 last year when he ploughed his vehicle into Pc Lewis Crowder.

Pc Crowder and two of his colleagues in the firearms unit had stopped the Mercedes following an investigation into a shooting the previous evening.

He had his semi-automatic rifle raised and was shouting “armed police, armed police, show me your hands, show me your hands” when Altun floored the accelerator.

Pc Crowder clung on to the bonnet for a split second before being thrown off – missing concrete bollards and a bus stop by inches.

His colleagues came to his aid and an ambulance was called.

The officer suffered concussion, cuts and a ligament injury and concussion but the court heard that if he had not thrown himself onto the bonnet, the consequences could have been “catastrophic”.

Pc Crowder said in court: “I remember being scared for my life, I thought I was going to die. I remember thinking if this car was going to crash, I was going to die.”

Altun, of Suffolk Road, in Tottenham, was cleared of attempted murder but convicted of a lesser charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

Sentencing on Monday, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said: “He drove with the grossest recklessness towards the officer and having struck him, drove off deliberately knowing that officer was clinging to the car, accelerated up the road as fast as he could creating enormous danger not just to the officer but other road and pavement users in the immediate vicinity.”

She credited the officer’s courage in throwing himself on the car bonnet, saying the consequences could have been “catastrophic”.

The judge said the impact on Pc Crowder and his young family has been great.

The court heard Altun was on bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the incident, but was not prosecuted for that.

He had 26 previous convictions for 48 offences including having a blade and numerous driving offences, including four periods of disqualification.

Judge Joseph said Altun showed little remorse in the trial and “made every attempt to blame the officer for his actions”.

Judge Joseph jailed Altun for 11 years and nine months with 16 months for dangerous driving, which he has admitted, to run concurrently.

The judge also banned him from driving.