Tailgating Marquess of Blandford raged at an innocent motorist

Charles Spencer-Churchill, 51, the wayward son of the Duke of Marlborough, appeared in court to face a string of driving charges.

The aristocrat, whose ancestral home is the Blenheim Palace estate in Oxfordshire, admitted criminal damage and dangerous and careless driving on two separate occasions.

Oxford Crown Court heard the Marquess, who has a long history of drug abuse and is currently being treated at The Priory, tailgated motorist Graeme Kennedy and other drivers at high speed.

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Aggressively gunning the engine of his Range Rover Sport, Spencer-Churchill, twice recklessly overtook Mr Kennedy, forcing him to brake suddenly and swerve on to the other side of the road.

Then in a violent rage, he stopped in the middle of the road blocking both lanes of traffic and stormed out of his car to run back to Mr Kennedy's vehicle where he launched a tirade of abuse, swearing and shouting as he lashed out at the driver's door.

Smartly dressed in tweed, the Marquess, called Jamie Blandford by his friends, appeared tired as details of the incident, on the A4095 in Oxfordshire in August last year, were read out.

He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of dangerous driving on the A4260 between Banbury and Wootton, Oxfordshire, in January this year.

The case follows a trial last month in Coventry where he was convicted of dangerous driving for speeding and cutting up a policeman on the M42.

Describing the incident in Oxfordshire, Judge David Morton- Jack said: "The defendant was tailgating Mr Kennedy. He heard the defendant's engines revving up directly behind him and saw the defendant's car touching his car.

"The defendant then overtook and cut sharply in front of him, so Mr Kennedy had to brake sharply.

"Then the defendant overtook him again, mounting the grass verge to do so, and went speeding off. Then he came to an abrupt halt in front of Mr Kennedy. The defendant left his driver's door open, forcing vehicles coming towards them to halt in the middle of the road.

"Then he ran back and swore at Mr Kennedy."

Mr Kennedy, 39, a motor trader originally from the Isle of Bute, Scotland, was on his way home to Eynsham when he noticed the Marquess behind him.

Speaking after the hearing, he said: "He was obviously driving dangerously. He was in a tearing rush and driving very dangerously.

"As far as I was concerned it was road rage. He was just ranting."

The eldest son of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, Spencer-Churchill previously served time in prison in 1995 for forging prescriptions to feed his drug habit.

He has also been convicted for possession of heroin and breaching a probation order.

In 1994 he was largely disinherited by his father, who had disapproved of his philandering and criminal ways.

His marriage to second wife Edla, whom he credits with saving his life, has also been a rollercoaster affair. The arrival of a daughter Araminta in April this year appeared to be a stabilising influence, but friends say he has seen little of his son - he has an heir George (the Earl of Sunderland) by his 1990 marriage to former amateur rider Becky Few-Brown.

Speaking on his behalf yesterday, barrister Peter Binder said his condition at the Priory, where he has been recovering for a month, was improving.

The Marquess, who lives in a farmhouse near Woodstock on his father's estate, is due to be sentenced next month for the driving offences in Oxfordshire.

He will also be sentenced for his conviction at Coventry Crown Court where police footage was shown of his Range Rover Sport tailgating and undertaking other cars on the M42 and cutting up a police vehicle.

Police chased him at speeds of 72mph in a 50mph zone and 84mph in a 60mph area as he attempted to avoid capture and almost smashed into the rear of a Vauxhall Corsa.

The Marquess was disqualified from driving in the interim.