This incredible dashcam footage played in court shows the final moments of a police chase when a teenage driver crashed into traffic lights on a packed Bradford street - then leapt across the pursuing police car's bonnet to make his escape.

Jordan Ratcliffe told police: “You wouldn’t have caught me if I hadn’t have crashed” after speeding off “like a lunatic” in an uninsured red Volkswagen Golf.

Ratcliffe, 19, of Southmere Crescent, Great Horton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at 11.30am on April 15. He was jailed for five months.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye told Bradford Crown Court yesterday the police ran a check on the car and realised it was being driven by someone under 30 in contravention of the insurance policy.

They pulled Ratcliffe over and told him to follow their patrol car so they could make further checks, but the teenager turned right on to Bowling Back Lane and accelerated off.

He went at 70mph down Leeds Road, running red lights and driving over a pedestrian crossing against a red light while someone was on it.

Ratcliffe went on to the Shipley/Airedale Road where he struck a Nissan Micra, knocking the wing mirrors off both cars.

He forced his way down Nelson Street until he got stuck behind a queue of traffic.

Ratcliffe then drove on to the grass verge and crashed into traffic lights.

He flung open the car door, hitting the pursuing police vehicle, and then jumped on the bonnet and ran right across to escape.

Miss Kaye said extensive damage was caused during the pursuit to vehicles and the traffic lights.

Emma Downing, Ratcliffe’s barrister, said he was a young man with no previous convictions who had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

But she conceded: “It was truly dangerous and truly appalling driving.”

Ratcliffe came from a hard working and law-abiding family who were dismayed by his offending.

He worked at Leeds/Bradford Airport and was on an errand the day before he began the job to obtain money to pay for a taxi to get him there for 3am.

Miss Downing said the court process had been a salutary experience for Ratcliffe.

“He is genuinely terrified of losing his liberty,” she said.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said the dangerous driving across the densely populated and busy city centre put the lives of other motorists and the police at risk.

Ratcliffe took the car behind his father’s back and “drove off like a lunatic showing no respect for yourself or anyone else.”

Judge Durham Hall said the courts had to send out a consistent message that drivers in “blue light” chases across Bradford would be locked up.

Ratcliffe was sentenced to five months in a young offender institution for dangerous driving and driving while uninsured. He was banned from driving for 14.5 months and must take an extended retest to get his licence back.