Robert Williams, 28, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty during May in Warrnambool court to 15 charges, including theft of a car and reckless conduct endangering life. 

He appealed against the severity of the jail term and an appeal was heard in the Warrnambool County Court this week.

After hearing the circumstances surrounding the offending, Judge John Smallwood warned a barrister acting for Williams to rethink continuing with the appeal.

He said Williams received a fair penalty and was at risk of receiving a longer jail term.

The appeal was then abandoned.

Warrnambool magistrate Peter Mellas previously said Williams had a history of violence, had served time in prison and his “extreme manner” of driving placed people’s lives at risk.

Police said Williams went to Ballarat's Eclipse Motors in May where he took a $14,000 Ford Falcon sedan for a test drive and later stole the vehicle.

Ballarat police saw the stolen car in Sebastapol early the following day but Williams drove off at high speed. 

That afternoon, Warrnambool police received a call about a Ford Falcon being driven in a dangerous manner near Grassmere.

When Williams saw police near Bushfield he accelerated and gestured with his middle finger to officers.

Williams accelerated away from police, who were driving at 150km/h. He was on the wrong side of the road and narrowly missed at least two head-on collisions. 

Police said Williams put other road users at extreme risk.

Later, Warrnambool police were called to the Hopkins River near Proudfoots Boathouse.

Williams had stolen a wooden boat and was about 20 metres off the bank when he was highly abusive to police officers. The Ford Falcon had blown its engine.

Defence counsel Xavier Farrelly said Williams “went off the rails” after not being able to see his son on his birthday and his mother had cancer.