An “arrogant” drink-driver who flipped his car over following a brief police chase has been locked up for nine months.
Prosecutor Verity Barnes told Bradford Crown Court that 37-year-old Tanveer Hussain was twice over the drink-drive limit when he raised his middle finger to a police officer on August 28 last year.
He was spotted driving on Otley Road in Shipley and then followed by the officer onto Salts Mill Road.
On Saltaire Road, Hussain, who had two passengers in the car, pulled out from traffic, drove the wrong way on the opposite side of the road and jumped a red traffic light.
There then followed a three-and-a-half-minute pursuit – with footage of the chase played in court – in which Hussain drove into bus lanes, mounted the kerb, jumped more red lights, and clipped another car.
The short-lived pursuit came to an end when Hussain’s car collided with a pedestrian fence and flipped over onto its roof.
Hussain and his passengers were detained at the scene with Hussain admitting he had been drinking. A roadside breath test showed he was twice over the legal limit.
In a police interview Hussain, of Lumb Lane, Bradford, answered “no comment” to all questions. He later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink-driving.
Mitigating, Oliver Connor said Hussain “panicked and took off” when he saw the police car in the knowledge that he had been drinking earlier.
He said Hussain had had “a historically difficult relationship with drinking” since his late teens, and gradually drinking “more and more” but a prison term for robbery in 2009 had led to sobriety.
He began drinking again in 2022 to the extent that it was almost a daily occurrence until he was arrested last summer. He has since “stepped away” from drinking.
Sentencing Hussain to nine months imprisonment, Mr Recorder Mark McKone KC said: “The police noticed you when you put a finger up at a policeman. That was probably influenced by alcohol but that showed an arrogance towards the police.
“For your own selfish reasons you risked the safety of many people before crashing your vehicle after a police chase when in drink.
“This offence is too serious to avoid an immediate custodial sentence.”
Hussain was also disqualified from driving for two years and four months and ordered to take an extended retest before driving again.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article