A VIOLENT drug dealer has been jailed for 18 weeks for fleeing a horror smash that left a man hospitalised for two weeks.

Leban Elmi, 23, was driving a Mercedes C220 that crashed into a blue Renault Clio in Queensway, Southend, on April 11.

He ran off, leaving a 47-year-old man, from Southend, with chest injuries and broken ribs.

Elmi, of Kirkwood Road, Peckham, was charged with driving without due care and attention, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and failing to give the identification of the driver of a vehicle.

He is already serving a 12-and-a-half year prison sentence for grievous bodily harm with intent, affray, possession of an offensive weapon and possession with intent to supply crack cocaine.

Elmi carried out an acid attack on a teenager in a shop in Westcliff on June 30 last year.

He was also jailed for possession with intent to supply 26.3 g of crack cocaine, which was found in his backside after he was shot near the Malvern flats tower block, off Coleman Street, Southend, on April 18.

Jemma Carr, case management officer for the Casualty Reduction Team, said: "Elmi fled from a serious road traffic collision, leaving the other driver in a significantly damaged car with serious injuries.

"The impact of the crash has since aggravated the victim’s existing medical conditions and the seriousness of this crash has been reflected in his custodial sentence.

"This conviction sends out a strong message that we will continue to pursue prolific offenders through the courts, even when they’re serving lengthy sentences in a prison cell.”

Elmi failed to appear at court but was convicted in his absence. He was sentenced at Colchester Magistrates’ Court, where he appeared via video link.

He was jailed for 18 weeks, disqualified from driving until he retakes his test and ordered to pay a £200 costs and a £155 victim surcharge.

The jail term for the driving offences will run concurrently.