A BRADFORD man who deliberately drove into a police car before speeding off through snow-covered backstreets has avoided jail.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye told Bradford Crown Court that police spotted Hamid Khan driving in an unusual way in a VW Golf estate just before 1am on December 3, 2023, on Idle Road in Eccleshill.

A police car signalled with lights and siren for him to pull over but instead of doing so Khan turned into Pollard Lane where, faced with another police car, he drove straight at it and collided causing damage estimated at £750.

Khan then turned the VW and drove away into Beech Grove and onto Back Heath Road where, despite falling snow, he sped up and drove down surrounding side streets in what was described as “a heavy residential area” of back-to-back houses, narrowly missing parked vehicles.

Khan then turned into Undercliffe Street and Hustler Street before entering Hinchcliffe Street, which is a dead end. At that point, he jumped from the car leaving a passenger still inside.

After a brief chase on foot, he was caught by a police officer and arrested. The court heard that he was clearly “under the influence of something” as he was unsteady on his feet, but when taken into custody he refused to provide a breath test.

During interview Khan, 26, of Hustler Street, Bradford, answered “no comment” to all questions.

Mitigating for Khan, who had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen, Shufqat Khan said his client’s attempt to evade the police was “relatively short” and had taken “a matter of minutes”.

He added that he had no previous convictions, cautions or reprimands and said: “He knows himself that he has only got himself to blame.”

Taking note of Khan’s age and no previous convictions, Her Honour Judge Sophie McKone imposed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.

She also ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and to undertake 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

The car was ordered to be forfeited.

The judge said Khan had "got behind the wheel of a car when you had been drinking” and it was a “bad piece of dangerous driving over a short period of time”.

She said it was not possible to know how much he had drunk on the night as he had refused to take a test.