A FEMALE motorist suffered severe whiplash when an uninsured driver crashed head-on into her car during a police chase.

Father-of-two Daniel Dunn, 27, of Butts Hill, Cleckheaton, was behind the wheel of a stolen BMW on false plates when police vehicles tried to box in the vehicle near Birstall Retail Park in March. Bradford Crown Court heard that, as one of the police cars pulled in front of the BMW, Dunn smashed into the back of the vehicle, catapulting it forward.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson said as Dunn drove off at speed a number of packages of white powder were thrown from the driver’s window.

During the early evening pursuit in March, Dunn reached speeds of 70mph and drove on the wrong side of the road before colliding head-on with a VW Golf near to the junction of Geldard Road and Nelson Street.

Mr Nicholson said the VW Golf was written-off in the crash and the female driver described having no time to react due to the speed of the BMW.

In a statement she said she had been off work for four weeks due to severe whiplash and still struggled with household jobs such as vacuuming and tidying.

Cannabis-user Dunn said he had bought the car on Gumtree for £400 and told officers that he didn’t know anything about the false plates on the BMW.

Dunn pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving, handling stolen goods, driving without insurance, failing to stop and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

Solicitor advocate Safter Salam, for Dunn, said his client was the sole carer for his two children and he urged Judge Jonathan Rose to consider suspending any prison sentence.

He said Dunn’s mother would struggle to look after the children if he was sent to prison immediately.

The judge said he had taken account of everything submitted on behalf of Dunn, but his offending past the custody threshold by a significant margin.

Judge Rose said Dunn’s ramming of the police had put the health and safety of the officers in jeopardy and the dangerous driving had been protracted.

He said the female motorist was driving perfectly properly, normally and lawfully on the road when Dunn had slammed into her.

“Imagine for a moment if she had young children, children as young as yours, in that car with her what damage you could have caused,” he told Dunn. Judge Rose jailed Dunn for 10 months and banned him from driving for two years and five months. Dunn will also have to take an extended re-test at the end of his driving disqualification.