Thamesmead man jailed after stolen Jaguar F Pace driven into traffic on the M2 and A2 between Medway and Gravesend
The moment police stopped, Tasered and arrested a drug-fuelled driver who was ramming through stationary traffic on the A2 was caught on body-worn camera.
In the footage, the police officer gets out of his car and runs past hundreds of cars stuck in the chaos and catches up with the 22-year-old who took advantage of the clear path that some motorists were creating in response to seeing and hearing the blue lights and sirens tailing him.
The officer smashes the window with his baton before he is joined by colleagues who Taser Gallagher and pull him out of the car before arresting him. He can be seen shouting as he lay on the road.
The young dad later tested positive for the breakdown product of cannabis and was more than twice the legal limit.
He was also subject to a suspended prison sentence imposed less than two months earlier at London's Old Bailey for a similar high-speed chase in a stolen car through the capital's streets.
But after the clip of the A2 pursuit was viewed by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court on August 8, Gallagher, of Pitfield Crescent, Thamesmead, was heading just one way - to jail.
Prosecutor Jemima Lovatt told the sentencing hearing that the Jaguar, worth £53,000 when purchased a few years earlier, had been reported stolen on December 29 last year.
It was then spotted and tailed by Kent Police on the M2 at about 2.30pm on January 1 and, as it reached speeds of up to 90mph, blue lights and sirens were activated while other marked police vehicles stopped the traffic further up ahead on the A2
"As the defendant approached he attempted to manoeuvre from lane four onto the hard shoulder," said Ms Lovatt.
"But he has not stopped and continued driving through the traffic to evade police, colliding with a police vehicle and causing damage.
"The defendant continued to drive between lanes three and four, where he collided with a number of vehicles belonging to members of the public, as well as other police vehicles.
"Due to the manner of his driving it was clear he didn't intend to stop but after a short period of time he became stuck and an officer got out of his vehicle, approached the Jaguar on foot and the defendant was arrested.
"Multiple vehicles were damaged in a pursuit lasting three minutes, and it only came to a stop because he was blocked by other vehicles, the windows (of the Jaguar) were smashed and he was Tasered."
Gallagher was later tested for drugs and gave a reading of 5.3 for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which has a legal limit of two.
He later admitted handling stolen goods, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, two offences of failing to stop and breach of a 14-month jail term suspended for two years.
That had been imposed, together with an 18-month driving ban, in November 2023 for offences of dangerous driving and driving without insurance.
Dale Beeson, defending, said Gallagher had acted "in blind panic and desperation" in his bid to flee and, since his remand in custody, had made "efforts to better himself" both personally and educationally.
Asking for a sentence that would give him a chance to "move in the right direction", Mr Beeson added: "He acknowledges his wrongdoing, he acknowledges his culpability and has genuine remorse.
"He has a two-year-old boy and is anxious to return back to society and become a sensible, hard-working young man who can support his partner and his young family."
Jailing Gallagher for four years, Judge Julian Smith said it was by "good fortune" he had not caused any injury, or worse, that day in his role of "transporting" the stolen Jaguar for the purposes of organised crime.
"What you did was extraordinary. You drove into that stationary traffic, you realised you were being pursued, they tried to stop you and you literally forced your way through that traffic," he told the defendant.
"Innocent members of the public were faced with considerable danger. I cannot imagine what would have happened if one, as so often happens, had got out of their vehicle to see what was going on, what the blue lights were about and why the traffic was being held.
"You caused absolute mayhem, you caused significant damage to three police vehicles and a great deal of damage to vehicles on that road.
"You did not stop. It was perfectly clear you were being required to stop and at one stage you were using the blue lights and sirens behind you to proceed through the traffic, and then forcing your way through when it became stationary.
"One officer literally chased you on foot, smashing the windows and, with the assistance of colleagues and the need to use a Taser twice, took you out of the vehicle and restrained you on the road.
"Blind panic? I'm not sure. You made a deliberate decision to drive a stolen vehicle in those circumstances. As for blind panic, if the police identify you and you are driving a stolen vehicle, you know what is going to happen.
"All you have done is prolong the incident, caused substantial danger, and made it so much worse for yourself. You had taken cannabis, another aspect of your disregard for road users.
"All this within six weeks of a judge giving you a chance at the Old Bailey to rehabilitate yourself....It is absolutely clear it was a highly dangerous manoeuvre to drive through traffic in that way.
"It is a matter of good fortune that I'm dealing with you for dangerous driving rather than an offence of serious injury by dangerous driving or, heaven forbid, a death."
As well as being jailed, Gallagher was banned from driving for six years and five months.
Eye-witnesses caught up in the drama later described the incident as having caused "chaos and absolute carnage", with some reporting as many as 10 to 20 vehicles being damaged.
One motorist, Leanne Verralls, who was heading to work at Bluewater when her Mercedes A-Class was hit, told KentOnline: "It was like dodgems. I've never seen anything like it. The driving was completely erratic and unsafe.