Dangerous driver from Leeds caught after high-speed police chase around blind bends in Middleton

Nicholas Kaye was spotted driving in a loop in a Citroen Berlingo van on May 15, prompting officers to flash their lights at him to stop.

But the 35-year-old, of Haigh View, Rothwell, failed to pull over and instead accelerated.

What followed was a 15-minute pursuit, which saw him driving at speeds of up to 80mph in 30mph zones, swerving around blind bends on the wrong side of the road and mounting kerbs.

Kaye also cut a red light and drove the wrong way down a one-way street. His van eventually crashed into railings when police deployed two stingers. And despite a brief attempt to escape on foot, Kaye was arrested.

He had a bag of cannabis in his jacket pocket, but later failed to attend an appointment for a drug assessment.

Kaye pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, possession of cannabis, driving while disqualified and a charge relating to his failure to attend the appointment.

He was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on November 29.

Emily Hassell, mitigating, said that Kaye had a mental health crisis and was hospitalised for this last year.

Judge Tahir Khan KC said: “It’s difficult to understand how somebody in your position, never having gotten into bother before, becomes embroiled in criminality. The only rational explanation I think for this spell of offending in a relatively short space of time is that you were mentally unwell.”

Kaye was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.