A MAN who forced a police car off the road and smashed into a double decker bus while driving dangerously twice in the space of a month has been jailed for two years and five months.

Dawood Basharat, 24, of Highfield Road, Keighley, was labelled a danger to other road users and banned from driving for three years and two and a half months when he was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Caroline Abraham said he already had a conviction for dangerous driving dating from 2016 when he committed the offences.

On October 13 last year, the police saw Basharat running a red light in Colne in a BMW 3 series. He had a deflated tyre and his car was sliding in the road.

When they gave chase, he forced a patrol vehicle off the road on to a grass verge before fleeing on foot and being apprehended.

He was a banned and uninsured driver, Miss Abraham told the court.

A month later, on November 14, he was seen at the wheel of the car in the Highfield area of Keighley just before midnight.

He sped off at up to 85mph along residential streets before smashing into a double decker bus on a bend as he headed towards Steeton in the blue light chase. The BMW then span and hit a wall.

Basharat was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he gave the police a false name and date of birth, the court heard.

The bus was not carrying passengers but the driver, who wrestled to control the vehicle before it crashed into lampposts, was treated at Airedale Hospital for his injuries.

He lost consciousness in the crash and suffered shoulder pain and severe psychological damage.

He stood up in court to read his victim personal statement, saying: “This was the most terrifying thing that has happened to me after 40 years of bus driving.”

He had been off work since and feared he would never drive a bus again. He tore his shoulder fighting to control the bus and now suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder and from terrifying flashbacks.

He had been a positive person but he was now reclusive, he told the court.

“It’s ruined and changed my life for the worse,” he said.

Jeremy Barton said in mitigation that Basharat was well aware of the pain and suffering his actions had caused.

Testimonials spoke highly of him and he did much good work for charity.

But Mr Barton conceded that his behaviour had been “reckless, dangerous and stupid.”

He was driving to visit his father in hospital when he hit the bus.

Basharat was a carer for both his ill parents, Mr Barton said.

He came from a hard-working, respectable and professional family background.

He was now trying his hardest to turn over a new leaf.

Recorder Tahir Khan QC jailed Basharat for 15 months for the first dangerous driving offence and 14 months for the second, the sentences to run consecutively, making a total of 29 months.

He was banned from driving for two years to begin after his release from custody.