A FLEEING driver went the wrong way round Bradford’s Odsal Top roundabout after his tyres had been punctured by a stinger device.

Paul Lockwood sped away from the police in his black Volkswagen Golf after panicking because he had just bought cocaine, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

He was chased by the police across Bradford for almost seven minutes before coming to halt on the slip road at the top of Huddersfield Road because his tyres had been deflated.

Lockwood, 30, of Caroline Street, Cleckheaton, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without insurance; possession of cocaine and production of cannabis.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye said the driving offences took place just before 11pm on January 7, 2020.

The police suspected the Golf was on false plates and activated their sirens and blue lights when it failed to stop.

It accelerated off down Abb Scott Lane in Low Moor on to Buttershaw Lane and did double the speed limit towards Wibsey.

Lockwood then headed towards Odsal Top roundabout doing 65mph in a 30 zone before the stinger was deployed and his tyres burst. He went the wrong way round the roundabout and then stopped.

He ran off but was chased and apprehended.

He had some cocaine in his sock and a search of his home revealed 12 cannabis plants that the Crown accepted were for his own use.

Gerald Hendron said in mitigation that there was no suggestion the car was on false plates but it was uninsured. Lockwood had bought some cocaine and he panicked.

When his tyres were punctured he lost control of the Golf and went round the roundabout the wrong way.

He had limited previous convictions and a good work record. He was a landscaper but after he severed part of his thumb he was ‘at a pretty low ebb’ and began using canna-bis and cocaine.

It was now two and a half years since the offences and he had stayed out of trouble since.

Mr Hendron said it would be unjust to pass an immediate prison sentence because of the time that had passed. The delay was no fault of Lockwood’s. He was always going to plead guilty.

“It was six minutes of madness back in 2020,” Mr Hendron told the court.

Judge Andrew Hatton observed that it was 21 months before the police sent the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.

It was ‘an appalling chase’ through residential streets at grossly excessive speeds and if Lockwood had been before the court much sooner an immediate custodial sentence would have followed.

He was jailed for 16 months, suspended for 18 months, with 250 hours of unpaid work and banned from driving for 12 months.

He must pass an extended retest before he can have a driving licence.