A DANGER driver whose wheel fell off when he crashed in a police chase has been jailed for 18 months.

Omar Malik told arresting officers: “F*** me, I could have died. I should have stopped,” after wrecking an uninsured Citroen Berlingo during the high-speed pursuit from Bradford city centre to Apperley Lane, Rawdon.

Malik, who was 15 times the legal limit for amphetamine, had been released from prison just four days earlier, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He jumped six red lights in the police chase from Bolton Road, Bradford, to when he struck the kerb and the car’s rear wheel came off.

Malik, 30, of Easby Road, Bradford city centre, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at 10pm on November 29 last year.

He also admitted driving without insurance or a licence.

Prosecutor Abdul Shakoor said the borrowed Berlingo accelerated away from the police along Horton Grange Road, Legrams Lane and Idle Road, weaving in and out of traffic and colliding with an oncoming Skoda.

When he crashed, Malik fled on foot but was apprehended.

Mr Shakoor said the defendant had 23 previous convictions for 44 offences.

Those convictions included dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

In June last year, he was imprisoned for 11 months for theft from the person and freed four days before committing the latest offences.

Malik’s barrister, Andrew Stranex, said his client had been held in custody since his arrest.

He acted out of “a mixture of panic and stupidity” and was remorseful.

Malik had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, Mr Stranex said.

To which, Judge Jonathan Rose replied: “He had little choice.

“He was caught red-handed after an appalling piece of driving and he had smashed up the vehicle he was in.”

Judge Rose told Malik, who was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison: “You have a dreadful record for criminal offending and have committed offences that include dangerous driving.”

Malik had failed to go and see his probation officer after his release from jail in November but had taken cannabis and amphetamine and driven a car when uninsured and unlicensed.

He had sped off at high speed, putting members of the public and the pursuing police officers at risk, before crashing the vehicle.

“The car was so severely damaged in successive collisions that it could not be driven any more,” Judge Rose said.

Malik was banned from driving for four and a half years.

He will also have to take an extended re-test.

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