A MAN who broke his back and five ribs trying to evade police in a high-speed chase in Bradford has been jailed for a year.

Stafford Reagan, 44, had to be cut out of his car by firefighters after crashing into four parked cars and then flipping upside down in Bradford Road, Birkenshaw, at around 1am on December 7 last year.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson told Bradford Crown Court that officers in an unmarked police car were on patrol in the Tyersal area of the city after receiving reports of an ongoing burglary when they saw Reagan’s Ford Focus parked towards Buller Street.

Suspecting it may be a getaway vehicle, they proceeded towards it, at which point Reagan “rammed” the police car before accelerating off onto Sticker Lane with no lights on.

Mr Nicholson told the court that a lengthy police pursuit ensued, taking in roads including Parry Lane, Wakefield Road, Holme Lane, and Tong Street.

During the chase, Reagan reversed up a grass bank, narrowly avoided hitting a car on a roundabout, and ran a number of red lights. The court heard he had repeatedly sped off in a bid to avoid being captured, “pulling away” from officers driving at 70mph in 30mph zones.

Mr Nicholson said that on Bradford Road, Reagan misjudged a traffic island in the middle of the carriageway forcing him to lose control of the vehicle. He crashed into the parked cars, with the impact throwing his car into the air before it landed on the opposite side of the road.

When they approached the vehicle, officers said Reagan was not wearing a seatbelt and “appeared unconscious”.

Reagan was taken to hospital, with the road closed for around seven hours in the aftermath of the crash.

Rebecca Young, for Reagan, said his best mitigation was his early plea to a charge of dangerous driving. She said her client was adamant he had no involvement in any burglary, and had been driving a friend’s car.

She added that Reagan had not realised the unmarked car was the police, claiming he had “nudged them out of the way” as he was concerned the car was going to collide with him.

Judge Jonathan Rose said it was “miraculous” no-one had been injured in the incident.

He said: “This was an appalling piece of driving embarked on quite deliberately by you. You were all over the road, you were not in control of this car.”

Referring to the officers involved in the chase, Judge Rose added: “You put their health and safety, and indeed their lives, in jeopardy.”

Reagan, of Healds Avenue, Liversedge, will be banned from driving for two years on his release from prison.