A MAN who had been drinking at a stag party in Bradford has been jailed for causing an “atrocious” three-car smash by driving the wrong way down one of the city’s busiest roads.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Tahir Khan, 40, was being chased by police when he turned into Hamm Strasse, travelling at 70mph on the opposite side of the carriageway.

As he sped towards Valley Road, he ploughed into two other vehicles, damaging them and writing off his new Audi S3.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson said that Khan had been spotted speeding and driving “erratically” by marked police at the junction of Church Street and Oak Lane in Manningham at about 7.50pm on September 11.

After initially pulling over, he then revved the car and sped off as officers approached the vehicle to speak to him.

A pursuit of just over a mile ensued, taking in roads such as Manningham Lane and Bowland Street, with Khan said to have driven “aggressively” by failing to stop at junctions and mini-roundabouts, mounting the pavement, and driving well above the 30mph limit over speed bumps.

He was said to have almost collided with oncoming traffic on numerous occasions before entering Hamm Strasse and crashing moments later.

One of the drivers involved was said to have suffered minor injuries and whiplash.

Khan was handcuffed after “lashing out” at officers on his arrest, before later denying in police interview that he had been the driver of the car.

When he was breathalysed at the scene, Khan gave a reading of 112 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

A later test at the police station gave a second reading of 72 microgrammes, still more than twice the legal limit of 35.

Khan admitted charges of dangerous driving and drink driving.

The court heard he had previous convictions for both offences, dating back to 1997 and 2011 respectively.

In mitigation, Khan was described as a “well-regarded and community-spirited man” who was heavily involved in charity work and acted as the sole carer for his ill mother.

In response to a request for Khan’s custodial sentence to be suspended, The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said such a course of action would be “wholly inappropriate” and would leave the public “outraged”.

He said that after the crash, Khan was said to have told police: “I took a £40,000 loss today. I crashed my car, but I will live on.”

Judge Durham Hall told Khan: “It is a matter of some concern that your thoughts were, and to some extent still are, only for yourself.

Judge Durham Hall told Khan: “You had been to a stag party. You’d had a very serious bout of drinking, obviously.

“You ignored every sensible rule of safe driving. It was blindingly obvious to everyone that this was an atrocious situation.”

Khan, of St Thomas Street North, Oldham, was jailed for 12 months, and banned from driving for three years.