A FARNWORTH man who led police on a chase through residential streets in a stolen car has been jailed.

Danny Dean ran a number of red lights, drove the wrong way on a roundabout and mounted a pavement in an unsuccessful bid to get away from police in the early hours of Sunday, January 27.

Dean, aged 28, was sentenced to ten months in prison at Bolton Crown Court yesterday after earlier admitting to dangerous driving, driving whilst banned, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

He also failed to provide a specimen for analysis.

He was also banned from driving for three years and three months.

Judge Graeme Smith said described the chase as "a prolonged and exceptionally dangerous piece of driving", addin.

Prosecutor Simone Flynn told the court that police began pursuing Dean after spotting a Volkswagen Golf Estate, which had been stolen during a burglary at a property in Urmston 19 days earlier, driving with false plates on in Bolton.

Dean, who was in the car with three passengers, failed to stop and sped through a red light in Radcliffe Road.

After police followed him on to Manchester Road, he then ran another red light at the junction with Egerton Street, before driving down the wrong side of the road.

Soon after, Dean then drove the car the wrong way on a roundabout in Carnation Road, but still failed to get away from police.

After mounting a pavement in MacDonald Avenue, he then led police down a number of back alleys.

A second police car joined in the chase and attempted to stop in front of the stolen vehicle in Buckley Lane. As Dean attempted to dodge the vehicle, the other car managed to box him in.

But Dean still attempted to get away by reversing into the police vehicles, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

When one of the passengers then fled foot, Dean jumped into the back of the car in an attempt to hide the fact he had been driving.

Dean was arrested by police and taken into custody.

Urging the court to consider suspending Dean's sentence, Helen Longworth, defending, said he had been in the "grip of a severe cocaine addiction" at the time.

She added: "Mr Dean's problem is that he is a drug addict. I am asking for one more chance for him to try to stay clean."

She explained that he had been making plans to tackle his addiction, and been looking at taking up a job working on the railways.

However, sentencing Dean to 10 months in prison, Judge Graeme Smith said: "It was a prolonged and exceptionally dangerous piece of driving.

"There were numerous examples that fell well below acceptable driving."

He added that had the driving not taken place during the early hours, when few people were on the roads, the outcome could have been a lot worse.

Sentencing, Judge Smith said: "There were numerous examples that fell well below acceptable driving."

He added that had the driving not taken place during the early hours, when few people were on the roads, the outcome could have been much worse.

Dean, who has a string of previous convictions for vehicle-related crime, was also banned from driving for three years and three months.