A FLEEING driver who looped round at up to three times the speed limit to escape from the police pretended to be working when they caught up with him, Bradford Crown Court heard. 

Business owner Najeeb Khan took off the long black puffer jacket he was wearing in the pursuit and picked up tools at the garage where he had taken the car. 

Officers found the still-warm coat in a vehicle after the three-minute chase on December 14 last year. 

Khan, 33, of Lynfield Drive, Heaton, Bradford, made no comment to police questions when interviewed. 

He went on to plead guilty to dangerous driving and driving while uninsured and unsupervised on a provisional licence. 

Prosecutor Benjamin Bell told the court today that Khan was at the wheel of a grey VW Golf on Heaton Road when police on patrol spotted him turning sharp left. 

When they got to the junction, they observed that his car was much further ahead than a vehicle travelling at the correct speed would be. They activated their blue lights and sirens and went after him. 

Khan pulled up on North Park Road but then accelerated sharply away, Mr Bell said. 

He looped round Manningham on roads including Lumb Lane, Grosvenor Road, Manningham Lane and Walmer Villas. 

The Golf then headed into garages and Khan was seen there without the jacket, walking round as if he had been at work, the court was told. 

John Bottomley said in mitigation that Khan had no previous convictions. It was a short piece of driving with no accident, injury or damage. 

Khan had a young child and another on the way. He was a business owner who employed people. 

Recorder Catherine Silverton said he was going too fast when he was seen by the police and he shouldn’t have been driving anyway.  

After he was spotted, he went up to three times the speed limit and through a red light. 

Although it was a short chase, it was more than enough to injure motorists or pedestrians. 

Letters from relatives spoke well of Khan, and the impact on others if he was jailed would be significant and detrimental. He felt remorse and shame and had made no attempt to minimise his actions. 

He was sentenced to an 18-month community order with up to 20 rehabilitation activity days  and 200 hours of unpaid work. 

Khan was banned from driving for 18 months and until he takes an extended retest and fined £250 for driving uninsured.