A DRIVER has escaped going to jail “by the skin of his teeth” despite leading police officers on an eight mile chase through Higher Fold, Westhoughton and Daisy Hill.

At Bolton Crown Court, Eleanor Gleeson, prosecuting, described how police officers saw Kyle Choudry driving a van through a no entry sign on Cross Street in Atherton at around 7pm on December 9, 2019.

The officers followed and stopped Choudry on Warwick Road where he told them he was lost.

But after they asked him to get out of his vehicle he revved the engine and drove off at speed, hitting the officer’s van as he pulled away.

The officers gave chase with a police helicopter joining the pursuit as Choudry drove down Somerset Road and Cross Street on the wrong side of the road.

Choudry, 26, of Old Mill Close, Horwich, drove the wrong way around a roundabout reaching speeds of 50mph in 30mph zones before he drove through Westhoughton town centre at 40mph.

He drove through red lights on Wigan Road as he went through Daisy Hill until officers were able to use a stinger device on St James Street with Choudry then running off before he was tasered and arrested at around 7.48pm whereupon he was found in possession of a small bag of cannabis.

Ms Gleeson added that Choudry, who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and possession of a Class B drug, had three previous convictions for four offences.

Louise Cowen, defending, said Choudry was aware he had made “a stupid, foolish and dangerous decision” to drive off and was “very remorseful”.

She said the defendant suffered from numerous mental health issues including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety which “underlined the panicked decision”.

She added that Chowdry was working as a warehouse operative although his anxiety meant he was signed off.

Recorder Ciaran Rankin said: “There was no sign of you stopping before the stinger was deployed”.

He said that Choudry had escaped being sent to prison “by the skin of your teeth” and it was only the concerns about his mental health and how we could cope in custody that made him decide to suspend the sentence.

Choudry was handed a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years and will be made the subject of two month curfew between 7pm and 7am.

He will also be disqualified from driving for two years and was ordered to pay £350 costs.