A father-to-be has avoided an immediate prison sentence after he tried to escape from pursuing police by driving up a grassed embankment onto waste ground.

Usman Iqbal, 23, was arrested after the Peugeot 206 he was driving without a licence got stuck as he tried to get away during a lunchtime pursuit.

Iqbal, of Bridgwater Road, Bradford, had increased his speed when officers activated their blue lights and on Thursday Judge Colin Burn was shown this graphic in-car footage of his dangerous driving.

During a pursuit lasting less than three minutes Iqbal came close to hitting an unsuspecting pedestrian before he pulled straight out onto a main road causing another motorist to take evasive action.

The footage also showed Iqbal driving on the wrong side of traffic islands and reaching a top speed of about 60mph before he tried to lose the police by driving up the grassed embankment in the Northside Road area.

Judge Burn heard that Iqbal was arrested as he got out of the vehicle and during his interview he described his driving as "erratic and ugly".

He told officers he had panicked and his barrister Christopher Moran said the defendant was genuinely remorseful.

Iqbal's wife is expecting another child later this year and the court heard that he was due to begin a job at a packing firm on Monday.

He pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving offence at the earliest opportunity and Judge Burn decided that his five-month jail term could be suspended for two years.

Judge Burn said Iqbal was not the typical - if there was such a thing - young, single hooligan driving around the roads, but his behaviour that day made him look like one.

"You don't even have a driving licence in the first place and shouldn't have even been behind the wheel," added the judge.

But Judge Burn ordered Iqbal to do the maximum 300 hours unpaid for the community as a direct alternative to an immediate prison sentence.

"On balance, Mr Iqbal, it seems to me there is more likelihood of your behaving responsibly and not reoffending if you aren't locked up with a bunch of dangerous drivers and other people in custody," he added.

But the judge stressed that Iqbal would now be banned from driving for two years and he would not be able to drive lawfully until he had passed an extended test.

The judge described the suspended sentence as an exceptional step and said he was reserving any breaches of the order to himself.

"Make sure this is your last appearance before the court," he warned Iqbal.

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