A 20-year-old danger driver who sought to escape police smashed through a fence and into a garden before crashing into another car.

When he was arrested following a seven-minute pursuit Adam Ali’s Subaru Forester 4x4 was on its side having suffered extensive damage.

Ali, of Highthorne Avenue, Bradford, is now beginning a 12-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution.

Bradford Crown Court heard how police officers travelling in a patrol car on Fagley Road signalled for Ali to stop so that they could check his documents after noticing damage to his vehicle at 6.10pm on April 3 this year.

Instead of pulling over Ali sped off past queuing traffic, jumped a red light, and accelerated to 60mph in a built-up area.

He mounted the kerb, drove in a cycle lane, and crashed into a stationary Volkswagen Polo causing “a large dint” as he tried to turn left off Gain Lane.

He then reversed, drove off again and hit speeds of 50mph in a 30mph zone before turning into a housing estate, missing the turning and driving through the front garden fence of a house onto its front lawn.

He drove out through a gap in the fence and continued to break the speed limit before crashing into an Audi Q5 on Killinghall Road.

His Subaru was found on its side in the middle of the road with extensive damage and a smashed windscreen.

The Audi was written off at a cost of more than £34,000. A bollard, flattened on Killinghall Road, had to replaced at a cost of £403. Damage to the lawn and fence of the house was put at £340.

Police checks later showed that Ali was not insured and only had a provisional licence.

In an interview with police, he gave “no comment” answers to all questions. He later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

Mitigating, Imran Khan said Ali, who had no previous convictions, was “not thinking rationally” at the time of the incident due to being in an emotional state over his sister’s cancer diagnosis and “panicked” resulting in a piece of “reckless and dangerous” driving.

He described Ali’s actions as “a lapse of judgment” and “an ill-conceived attempt to escape responsibility”.

Detaining Ali for a year, Mr Recorder Anthony Kelbrick said: “You embarked upon a very, very, very dangerous course of action.

“You drove at excessive speeds in residential areas, damaged other people’s property causing them financial loss, some of it many thousands of pounds.

“You put your life at risk, and you must have put other lives at risk.

“People who drive like you ought to be punished.

“Others must know that this sort of behaviour cannot be tolerated.”