A DANGER driver who smashed into a tree after sliding down a steep embankment in a stolen car has been jailed for two years.

Wayne Pearson switched off the vehicle’s lights during a police chase before deliberately steering into a field in a desperate bid to escape the two pursuing patrol cars, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He fled the scene on foot but was arrested after he left his baseball cap in the Vauxhall Corsa and his DNA was found on the airbag.

Pearson, 40, of Barkerend Road, Bradford, was brought from custody to be sentenced for aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance on the evening of December 2 last year.

The court heard on Tuesday that he drove dangerously from Harden Lane to Bell Dean Road in Lower Grange, Bradford, in a car that had been stolen in a house burglary the previous day.

During the two-minute pursuit in bad weather, Pearson went at 80mph along Prune Park Lane.

He was also sentenced for shop thefts, attempted burglary and assaulting a custody nurse at the police station.

He stole a total of £350 worth of meat from Marks & Spencer in Bradford city centre on February 17 and March 9.

Pearson struck again at Tesco on Valley Road, Bradford, in the early hours of March 23, attempting to make off with goods worth £88.

Following his arrest, he tried to headbutt a female custody nurse he was demanding drugs medication from. She had to press the panic button in the cells after he lunged at her twice. He was charged with the new offence of assaulting an emergency worker.

Pearson next stole meat from Marks & Spencer by hiding it in his jacket and pushing past staff on April 2. On the same day, he attempted to burgle a kiosk in the Kirkgate Centre, Bradford, by trying to prise open the till with a knife.

His final offence was failing to provide a specimen for drugs analysis following his arrest.

Pearson, who pleaded guilty to all the charges, had 81 previous convictions for theft and attempted burglary.

His solicitor advocate, Amarpal Singh, said Pearson had been a drug addict for most of his adult life.

In a letter to the court, Pearson said he was sorry for committing the offences but he had given up hope after being diagnosed with Hepatitis C. He believed that he didn’t have long to live and decided to make the most of the time he had left.

Since being remanded in custody, he was off illegal drugs and had been treated for his illness, learning that he could live a full and beneficial life with it.

Pearson asked Judge Colin Burn to give him a final chance.

But the judge said the offences were too serious to avoid immediate custody.

Pearson was jailed for eight months for aggravated vehicle taking and banned from driving for two years.

He was locked up for seven months in total for the other offences and nine months of a suspended sentence, imposed on February 19, was activated.