A speeding driver jumped four red lights before ignoring a fifth and crashing into another vehicle on Manchester Road, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Dawood Rana’s silver Mercedes struck a white BMW at the junction with Mill Lane shortly after midnight on November 14, 2019.

The two men in the BMW needed hospital treatment after the smash which left both cars extensively damaged, prosecutor Samreen Akhtar said.

Rana, 36, of Croft Gardens, Birkby, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after CCTV footage showed him speeding across the city and running four red lights before the crash. He was jumping a fifth when he collided with the BMW.

Miss Akhtar said the force of the impact inflated the airbag in the Mercedes. Rana left the scene but blood was found on the car door and in the console.

The vehicle was traced to his home address. He accepted being the driver but stated that he did not believe it was being driven dangerously before refusing to answer further questions.

One of the men in the BMW sustained knee and back injuries and was off work for a fortnight. The second suffered injuries to his arm, back and shoulder and was at first struggling to work.

Rana had eight previous convictions for ten offences, including dangerous driving. Last year he was sentenced to a community order and banned from driving for three years by the city’s magistrates for driving over the prescribed limit in March, 2020.

Miss Akhtar said the Mercedes was a write-off so did not need to be forfeited by the court.

Upkar Bakia said in mitigation that Rana, a married man, was in full-time work. He had serious mental health problems and suffered badly with anxiety.

He was doing well on the community order, engaging with the Responsible Road User’s group.

Judge Colin Burn sentenced Rana to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

He added ten more rehabilitation activity days to the ones imposed by the magistrates and banned him from driving for 30 months and until he takes an extended retest.

Rana was also ordered to pay £400 towards the prosecution costs.

Judge Burn said it would be counter-productive to send him to jail immediately because he was doing so well on the community order.

It had also taken a very long time to bring the case to sentence. The “significant delay” meant that the lower court had dealt with him for the March offence, giving him the chance to perform well on the community order.