A HEROIN and crack addict who crashed into two parked cars following an “appalling” piece of driving has narrowly avoided jail.

Mulkit Singh, 46, said he “panicked” after police saw him driving a Vauxhall Astra on Killinghall Road in Bradford at around 4.30am on May 13.

Prosecutor Camille Morland told Bradford Crown Court that after being instructed to stop by officers, Singh sped away, reaching “dangerous” speeds on roads including Napier Street, Bradford Lane, Raglan Street, and Leeds Road. At points during the eight-minute chase, he mounted kerbs, drove on the wrong side of the road, and ignored junctions and red lights.

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He drove along a pavement on Kershaw Street, and jumped clear from the still-moving car on a pedestrianised area of Lapage Street.

The car crashed into two stationary vehicles and Singh was detained after a short foot chase.

Singh, of Amberley Court, Bradford, had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance prior to yesterday’s hearing at Bradford Crown Court.

Mark Brookes, for Singh, said his client had been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine since 1989.

He said he had appeared at Leeds Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with stealing from Sainsburys at the White Rose Centre and been given a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, with a six-month drug-rehabilitation order.

Judge David Hatton QC said as the magistrates in Leeds had imposed the drug rehabilitation requirement, he was prepared to allow the order to take effect, despite Singh’s “extensive criminal record.”

He told him: “The driving you undertook was an appalling piece of driving and it was, it goes without saying, dangerous.”

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Singh was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, in addition to his suspended sentence for the theft offence.

He was given a four-month curfew from 9pm to 6am, and banned from driving for a year.

He was sentenced to one day in prison for a bail offence, which he has already served during his time in custody.