A COURSE showing Bradford youngsters the consequences of driving dangerously should be compulsory for all Year 11 pupils, a barrister defending an 18-year-old who crashed during a police chase said.

Ken Green stated: “The courts are inundated with teenagers driving without insurance and tax and panicking when a police car comes up behind them.”

He was speaking on behalf of Sami Ali who was being sentenced for ‘a dreadful piece of driving’ across Bradford that ended with his unlicensed, untaxed and uninsured VW Golf smashing into another vehicle.

Ali, of Azealea Court, Barkerend, Bradford, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving late at night on June 6 last year.

Bradford Crown Court heard that he accelerated off from the police and led them on a six-minute pursuit along residential streets at up to 60mph.

The blue light chase included Barkerend Road, Killinghall Road and Pollard Lane.

Ali, who was 17 at the time, bounced over speed humps, sped past lines of parked cars and forced other road users to swerve to avoid him.

He ran three red lights before crashing into a vehicle being driven by a member of the public. That car was extensively damaged and the occupant was hurt, the court was told.

Ali’s passenger ran off and he made no comment to all police questions.

The silver Golf was seized by the police and Judge Jonathan Rose made a deprivation order.

Mr Green said that Ali understood the seriousness of the offence and that immediate custody was the likely outcome.

But he had found employment and committed no further offences since.

He was a juvenile at the time and would have been dealt with by the city’s Youth Court if there hadn’t been such a long delay until he was charged. He had then immediately pleaded guilty.

Ali had expressed regret and remorse and his life had moved on significantly.

A schoolteacher who knew his family had recommended the Consequences of Reckless Driving course (CORD) that Mr Green said should be compulsory for 15 and 16-year-olds.

Judge Rose labelled Ali ‘a dangerous idiot’ in June last year.

“This was a dreadful piece of driving by a boy incapable of driving,” he said.

It was miraculous that the occupants of the car he hit were not more seriously hurt.

But there was no explanation for the delay in charging Ali. He was caught at the wheel. The evidence was overwhelming.

It would be unfair to lock him up when he would have been dealt with as a juvenile if the case had got to court in good time.

Ali was sentenced to a two-year community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and banned from driving for two years and until he passes an extended test.