A PERSISTENT offender is back behind bars after leading police on a 120mph chase around the M60 in a stolen car.

Two vehicles were taken during a break-in in August. Forty days later one of the cars, a Nissan Juke, was spotted on the A6 in the early hours by police.

Officers approached with emergency equipment activated but the driver, Jack Flynn, drove off at high speed, Bolton Crown Court heard.

He hit speeds of 100mph on the A6, then went the wrong way over a roundabout before joining the M60 heading towards Bolton, the court was told.

He went at over 120mph before leaving at junction eight. Officers briefly lost sight of him before finding the vehicle abandoned in a car park.

They then brought sniffer dogs to the scene who led them to Flynn, who admitted to being the driver.

He later admitted to dangerous driving, taking a car without permission and driving with no insurance.

The court heard he was not involved in the burglary and had borrowed the car before the incident. But he did not ask any questions about where it had come from.

Prosecutor Paul Treble said Flynn, 23, of Great Howarth, Rochdale. had been in court before for dishonesty, assaults and handling stolen goods.

Defence lawyer Michael James asked for his client to be spared jail.

He said: “He said he had had the car for a few days, he had been stopped by police earlier and he co-operated, this time he simply panicked and drove off at speed. Traffic was light, there was no collision and no vehicle had to manoeuvre away.”

Flynn had stayed out of trouble since January 2017 and had a tenancy he was keen not to lose after a period of homelessness, the court heard.

But Judge Ciaran Rankin, jailing him for 16 months, said: "You have seven convictions for 20 offences. Given your young age that is a terrible record.

“The only issue is whether it must be immediate custody. In my view your driving was so serious it must attract a sentence of imprisonment."

Flynn was also banned from driving for 32 months.