THE behaviour of a 13-year-old boy who drove a stolen car at speeds of up to 100mph has been condemned after he was locked up.

The Shipley youth was sentenced to 18 months’ youth detention on Thursday.

He faced a series of charges in connection with an incident on the night of September 23.

Police said they had to deploy a Stinger - a spiked strip which shreds a car’s tyres in a bid to stop it - before they could disable the car.

And when they reached the vehicle they were stunned to find a 13-year-old in the driver’s seat.

However, the teenager cannot be identified for legal reasons.

The offences included burglary of a home, theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving and driving document offences.

Last night the youth’s behaviour was condemned by Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies.

He said: “It’s about the worst case I’ve heard about.

“It’s unbelievable. You couldn’t make it up.

“It doesn’t bear thinking about. The potential consequences don’t bear thinking about.

“We all know the Bradford district has a massive problem with danger drivers.

“Many people will be asking what about the parents?”

The youth was spotted by police on patrol in Keighley.

The town’s MP John Grogan said it was a shocking incident and praised the police for stopping the boy before he could cause any injury.

He said: “Bad driving is the number one complaint I have about life in Keighley, particularly speeding

“Parents have a big responsibility for education. I don’t know where they thought he was.”

Mr Grogan said: “He could have killed himself and others.”

The MP said welcomed extra money from Keighley Town Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner being put into roads policing as part of West Yorkshire Police’s Operation Steerside resulting in extra traffic police.

Bradford Crown Court heard how the schoolboy was driving a Volkswagen Golf.

PC Pearson, a Bradford-based road traffic officer, told the court that on the day of the incident the vehicle had been stolen in a burglary which took place in Shipley.

Later that day a police patrol spotted the car in Keighley and attempted to stop it.

However, the car drove off and a 100mph chase to Bingley followed.

The Stinger device was used to stop the car on Bradford Road, Nab Wood, and two males were arrested.

PC Pearson tweeted: “Stolen Golf from a burglary in Shipley, picked up in Keighley and pursued at 100mph to Bingley where it was stung. 2 x males were arrested.

“Shocking to find the driver was only 13 years old!!”

Police have hinted on Twitter that the case might be appearing on Channel 5’s TV show Police Interceptors which is shown on Mondays at 8pm.

In September the Telegraph & Argus reported how road safety charities had voiced “extreme concern” after it emerged that nearly 200 youngsters in West Yorkshire had been banned from driving before they are even old enough to hold a full licence.

A Freedom of Information request by the T&A to the DVLA revealed that 189 people aged 16 or under had been disqualified from driving across the county since 2014.