A QUAD biker “hell-bent on a life of crime” who “goaded” police during a 20-minute chase has been locked up for nearly three years.

Sheldan Thackeray, 20, led officers on a prolonged pursuit on roads in North Yorkshire before dumping the bike and trying to hide in a bush.

Prosecutor Philip Adams told Bradford Crown Court that the Yamaha quad had been stolen from a garage in Austwick, near Settle, on the evening of July 24.

Around 2.15am the following morning, Thackeray was riding the bike on the A65 near Settle and ignored police when they asked him to pull over.

Instead, he stood up on the bike and “goaded” officers into chasing him as he sped towards Skipton.

He drove the wrong way around a roundabout on the A629 and mounted a grass verge as he tried to take a right-hand bend.

As he reached Silsden, Thackeray drove at 54mph in a 30mph zone before his wheels left the ground as he entered a housing estate.

He abandoned the bike but was found hiding in bushes by police sniffer dogs. When questioned, he claimed he had “been out for a walk.”

Mr Adams also told the court that on November 2, the occupier of a house on Thackeray Road in Ravenscliffe, Bradford, returned home to find the defendant trying to open the door of her property with a set of mole grips.

The complainant, who said the incident had left her felling “shocked and angry”, knew the defendant and reported the matter to police.

Thackeray, of Springdale Crescent, Idle, Bradford, admitted charges of dangerous driving and attempted burglary prior to his sentencing hearing.

In mitigation, Nick Askins said Thackeray, who had previous burglary convictions in 2015 and 2016, was due to become a father for the first time in February, which would “hopefully give him a reason to stay out of trouble” on his release from custody.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, told Thackeray: “You were goading police and led them on a real chase. You broke every rule.

“Amazingly you didn’t kill yourself or injure anybody else.

“You seem hell-bent on a life of crime, you are certainly putting up a good effort to show that.

“This would have been an effective burglary were it not for the poor lady coming home.”

Thackeray was sentenced to two years and nine months in a young offenders institution and banned from driving for two years.