AN UNINSURED driver who had smoked cannabis drove at nearly three times the speed limit during a police chase through Bradford that lasted nearly half an hour.

Javid Shan, 23, who was driving on false number plates, ignored at least 14 sets of red traffic lights during the 24-minute pursuit, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Shan, of Skipton Road, Keighley, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for 34 weeks by Judge David Hatton QC after admitting dangerous driving. He was disqualified from driving for one year and 17 weeks.

Prosecutor Frances Pencheon told the court that police saw the defendant driving a silver Volvo out of a petrol station in Leeds Road, Bradford, at 1.15am on May 3.

The officers followed the car to Killinghall Road, where the defendant did a U-turn and sped off towards Thornbury. Police illuminated their blue lights and sirens.

The pursuit went along Leeds Old Road and Leeds Road, where Shan drove through a red light at 70mph.

He turned off and drove on narrow streets at 50mph, then drove at speed round the Barkerend Road roundabout, and along Otley Old Road, Bolton Road and Leeds Road, in the direction of the city centre, where he reached speeds of between 50mph and 80mph, continuing to drive through red lights.

He travelled along Hall Ings, Bridge Street and Senior Way. Near to St Luke’s Hospital, police used three vehicles to try and box him in, but Shan forced his way out, causing minor damage to one police vehicle.

Shan continued at speed along Great Horton Road, driving through more red lights and passing the University on a blind bend on the wrong side of the road near to a nightclub.

He nearly collided with another car on Lumb Lane, then braked heavily to turn into Manningham Lane on the wrong side of bollards.

At the junction with Otley Road, Shan drove through more red lights at 89mph. At one point he crossed on to the wrong side of the road.

The pursuit ended when Shan lost control of the car and came to a stop on a grassed roundabout. He was arrested and gave a positive drugs test for cannabis, though it was under the legal drug drive limit.

Shan admitted he only had a provisional licence, was uninsured for the vehicle and had put on false number plates. He said he had panicked and did not want to get arrested. Two police officers suffered slight injuries during the incident.

Shan’s barrister, Nadeem Bashir, said his client had struggled to cope with a bereavement. The offence was out of character.

Judge Robert Bartfield had earlier put back the hearing so that a DVD of the chase from the police car could be brought to court and played. Mrs Pencheon had told the judge the DVD was in existence, but had not been provided to her.

Judge Bartfield said: “If these aren’t served for court purposes, what is the point of having them? We have got a serious problem in Bradford with driving of this kind, and we are not going to be able to deal with these cases properly without all the evidence.”

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