A DANGEROUS driver who had to be rammed off the road after leading police on a dramatic 100mph chase has escaped a prison sentence due to prosecution delays in bringing his case to court.

Tyrone Larkin, who has never passed a driving test, was twice caught driving dangerously and on one occasion police had to ram his car to get him to stop.

But Judge Richard Gioserano was scathing in his criticism of the police and Crown Prosecution Service because 23-year-old Larkin was not summonsed to court until months after the second offence was committed.

In the meantime Larkin has had time to get and hold down a job as a warehouse worker, disassociate himself from his former friends and stay clear of drugs and alcohol.

At Bolton Crown Court Judge Gioserano, while slamming the prosecution delays as "inordinate and inexcusable", said he now had to take the progress Larkin has made into account.

"It would be grossly unfair to take that from you," he told the defendant.

He added: "If I had been sentencing you last May or June when, in my opinion I should have done, you would have been going to prison. That is the sentence the public would expect."

But instead Larkin, of Glazedale Close, Bolton, was given a two year community order with conditions that he undertakes 200 hours of unpaid work and participates in 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

He was banned from driving for two years after which he will have to take and extended driving test in order to obtain a licence.

Larkin pleaded guilty two counts of dangerous driving, possessing heroin, aggravated vehicle taking, driving without a licence and having no insurance.

William Magill, prosecuting, told how, on February 2 last year, Larkin failed to stop for police when they spotted him driving a Vauxhall Corsa on Blackburn Road, Bolton.

On Crompton Way Larkin reached speeds of up to 100mph, and sped through traffic lights at the junction with Tonge Moor Road at 70mph.

A stinger was deployed and then police used "tactical contact" in order to bring him to a halt.

"In effect he [the police officer] barged into the vehicle," said Mr Magill.

Damage to the Corsa amounted to £6,000 and Larkin attempted to flee but he was caught and wraps of heroin were found on him. He tested positive for having taken cocaine.

Larkin was given bail but on April 24 he was caught again, driving a Honda Jazz using false plates on roads around Farnworth.

Mr Magill told how he was driving erratically, heading through red lights and refusing to stop until he reached a dead end at Church Road.

Virginia Hayton, defending, said: "He was with associates and stupidly decided to get behind the wheel."

She added that, at the time, Larkin was homeless and had fallen in with "the wrong crowd".

READ MORE: Elderly man wins three-year battle over huge hedge

"He doesn't associate with those youths any more and is out of the area," she said, stressing that he is remorseful and no one was injured due to his driving.

A spokesman for the CPS said the case was only referred to them by the police on June 1 and, after receiving more evidence, authorised a charge of dangerous driving in August. It is then the police’s responsibility to charge or summons a defendant.

The spokesman said: “We work closely with the police to ensure that cases are progressed as quickly as possible and to provide advice where necessary about evidential requirements.

“In this case the CPS authorised a charge of dangerous driving as soon as we had received all the evidential material we needed to enable us to make a charging decision and we immediately communicated that decision to police.”

Greater Manchester Police was contacted for a comment.