A BRADFORD judge has reinforced the message that drivers who fail to stop for police face prison by jailing a man who led officers on a 25-minute high-speed chase for ten months.

Officers in an unmarked car asked Liam Jagger, 21, to pull over in the Duckworth Lane area of Bradford on January 28 after noticing a fault in one of the lights on his Hyundai.

Prosecutor Philip Adams told Bradford Crown Court that instead of stopping, Jagger sped off, doing three laps of a housing estate at around 60mph.

He continued through Thornton village at 50mph, ignoring a no entry sign and forcing another driver to mount a footpath to avoid a collision.

Jagger hit 80mph as he flew through Denholme, passing through red lights as he headed back towards Allerton, where he mounted the pavement and drove over a grassed area in a bid to evade capture.

The ten-mile chase, which also involved the police helicopter, came to an end when police used a stinger to stop the car and dragged Jagger out.

Mr Adams referred to a recent ‘community impact statement’ provided by West Yorkshire Police on the effects of dangerous driving in the Bradford district.

He said: “The likelihood of being involved in an injury collision in Bradford is higher than anywhere else in West Yorkshire.”

Jagger, of Southmere Oval, Wibsey, Bradford, admitted dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

Christopher Styles, defending, said his client had endured a troubled childhood, stating he was “dragged up rather than brought up.”

He said Jagger had no previous convictions for poor driving, and stated that any immediate prison sentence would affect his attempts to work and support his two young children.

Mr Styles asked Judge Neil Davey QC to consider passing a suspended sentence, but he said there were “no grounds at all” to support such a decision.

He told Jagger, who he banned from driving for two years; “You drove persistently dangerously for ten miles. You did everything you could to avoid the police apprehending you.

“People need to understand that when police switch on their blue lights and sirens, that means stop. Bradford has a particular problem with dangerous driving and the problems dangerous drivers cause. That problem can only be addressed by appropriate prison sentences.”