A killer driver was today behind bars after leaving tiny traces of DNA on the airbag of his wrecked car.

John Amos Price went on the run for months after the smash but was eventually caught following a dramatic police chase across two counties when he swerved to ram officers' cars.

The traveller's Mitsubishi Shogun had shot through a red traffic light in Bradford before ploughing into 71-year old Ken Hill driving his Ford Escort, Bradford Crown Court was told.

As Mr Hill - a grandfather-of-seven of Tyresal Terrace, Tyresal - lay dead in the crumpled chassis, Price and a friend fled the scene.

But when officers tracked down the 19-year-old - who had not even passed his driving test - he denied being involved, saying he had sold the £19,000 car two days earlier.

But Bradford Crown Court yesterday heard that traces of his DNA recovered from the Shogun's airbag proved he was at the wheel.

Yesterday, Price, now 21, of St Helen's, Merseyside, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving on October 30, 1999, and to dangerous driving on June 26 last year.

As the judge jailed him for six-and-a-half years, Price sobbed and rubbed his eyes in the dock.

Dick Hodgson, prosecuting, said the tragic smash occurred on Tong Street at its crossroads with Holme Lane and Weaverthorpe Road.

Witnesses reported seeing Price driving at 60mph - double the speed limit - before hitting the Escort which spun 180degrees in the road.

"The shogun went clean through the junction and turned on its side," said Mr Hodgson.

Two people then clambered out of the sunroof and ran off, he added.

Although the car was not registered to Price, he had been stopped by police days before, providing a vital link to him, the court heard.

While various leads suggested his guilt, the conclusive proof came many months later was finally charged and brought to court on July 7.

"Mr Price's DNA was found in a trace on the drivers airbag in exactly the place where his face would have expected to come into contact with it," said Mr Hodgson.

After a number of court appearances, Price jumped bail and went on the run for four months.

But officers alerted to two men acting suspiciously in Seaham near Sunderland, found Price with a white Ford Transit van.

He sped off, almost hitting an officer, at the start of a police pursuit covering twenty miles and two counties.

At least ten cars were involved in the chase which was supported by Cleveland Police's helicopter, the court heard.

Price drove through a 'rolling roadblock', swerved at police cars and careered around a 'stinger' device designed to blow out his tyres, the court heard.

"He then did a dramatic U-turn through the central reservation where cones had been set up and in to the path of oncoming traffic including an articulated lorry and private car," said Mr Hodgson.

After driving down an embankment, Price stopped and ran into a caravan park where he was later founding hiding under a bed.

His barrister, Alan Taylor, said Price - whose wife is expecting their second child - was "consumed with remorse" over the incident.

He said the accident occurred when his mobile phone went off and slipped into the footwell of the car.

"Foolishly and tragically" he took his eyes off the road as he approached the junction.

Banning him from the road for ten years, His Honour Judge Armstrong told Price: "It would be a danger were you behind the wheel of a motor vehicle again."

He called the incident "despicable" and condemned Price for leaving the scene, adding: "You saved your own neck before thinking of anybody else's."

"No sentence I pass can bring Mr Hill back."