A TEENAGER who has never had a driving lesson crashed a car while trying to outrun police at up to 110mph.

Bolton Crown Court heard how 18-year-old Yusuf Ibrahim smashed his friend's Toyota Avensis into traffic lights at over 90mph then ran off, only to be caught by officers a short distance away.

Sentencing him to 12 months detention, suspended for two years, Judge Richard Gioserano told him: "It's right that you risked your own life that night travelling at excessive speeds, thinking you could do it safely, perhaps foolishly believing you could actually get away from the police.

"It's not really the risk you created to your own life that concerns me, it's the risk you created to the lives of other people. That's a risk you just didn't consider.

"You were lucky to walk away from the crash but you were even more lucky you didn't hurt anyone else.

"You seem to think that the highways are a race track."

Claire Brocklebank, prosecuting, told the court how police spotted the Avensis at 12.30am on St George's Road but the driver refused to stop and sped off, heading through red lights, speeding along residential streets and along Chorley New Road at up to 110mph before turning into Beaumont Road, where, three minutes later, driver Ibrahim lost control and crashed.

The teenager, of Vickers Close, Deane, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

Mark Friend, defending, told the court that jobless Ibrahim, who is originally from Birmingham, had been sent to live with his grandparents in Bolton to remove him from the fringes of gang culture.

"He is a young man who is rather drifting," said Mr Friend, who added that Ibrahim's false confidence about his driving ability is a sign of his immaturity.

As part of his sentence Ibrahim was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and participate in 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

"I am going to give you the opportunity to prove that you have now got the message," Judge Gioserano told him.

He was banned from applying for a driving licence for two years, after which he will have to take an extended driving test.