A DANGER driver who led police on a chase through residential areas has been jailed.

Bilal Rafiq, 25, of Botany Avenue, Bradford, appeared before Bradford Crown Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and driving with no licence and no insurance.

The offence unfolded in the afternoon of April 19 last year.

Prosecutor Martin Robertshaw said a police officer on patrol saw Rafiq driving a blue BMW on Idle Road and requested him to stop and asked him for his details.

Mr Robertshaw said Rafiq gave the details of another person and said he had left his ID at home, before speeding off.

The police officer followed, but Rafiq accelerated away, reaching speeds of 70mph in a 30mph, built up, residential area.

The court heard Rafiq overtook vehicles at speed and nearly crashed with an articulated lorry.

Rafiq, who has previous convictions, went out of site, but officers later visited his home address, where he was sat in a car outside.

He was arrested and was found to be in possession of three boxes of cannabis leaf, for his own personal use.

His sentencing at crown court was deferred earlier this year and when he appeared again, it transpired he was awaiting an appearance at magistrates' court in July to face a charge of driving while disqualified.

The offence was committed while the other sentence was deferred and he was handed a 12-week prison sentence by magistrates.

Thomas Stanway, for Rafiq, said his client's time in custody had been a "salutary" experience and that he'd had a difficult time due to health problems.

He said Rafiq has kidney problems and underwent a transplant in 2017, but while he was in prison did not receive his medication for the first two weeks and blacked out on a number of occasions.

Mr Stanway said prison had been a "horrifying experience" for Rafiq and his client had seen the strain it had put on his mother.

The court heard Rafiq is "drifting through life".

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC sentenced him to five months imprisonment for the dangerous driving, with no separate penalty for the other offences.

He will also be disqualified from driving for 12 months and will take a mandatory retest.