AN aspiring musician led police on a high speed chase along the motorway before heading through the streets of Farnworth where he was detained.

Khalid Ismail was wanted in connection with allegations in the West Midlands and a BMW he was driving was spotted by an officer on the M6.

Bolton Crown Court heard officers in the police car instructed him to follow it off the vehicle at Junction 21A.

Ismail moved between the exiting lane and the first lane of the motorway, then decided to make an escape attempt by driving straight on.

He hit speeds of up to 130 miles per hour and shot past HGVs.

As he was chased he came onto the M61 and then the A666 and came into Farnworth, the court was told.

During the pursuit, which took place over around six miles at around 9am, he went past a primary school and eventually came to a dead end where he was detained.

Peter Connick, prosecuting, said Ismail gave a false date of birth but then later gave the correct one.

He added “He was found with a small snap bag of cannabis.”

The prosecutor also said Ismail was found to be without any insurance or a driving licence.

But he said no action was being taken in relation to allegations from the West Midlands incident.

Ismail, 23, appeared in court to be sentenced after admitting dangerous driving, possession of cannabis and driving without a licence or insurance.

Alexandra Sutton, defending, said her client had encountered difficulties in life including being struck with pneumonia when younger, which ruined aspirations to play professional football.

She said now he was planning to become a musician and was due to play a gig in the near future at the O2 Ritz in Manchester.

She said: “Mr Ismail understands the seriousness of his position before the court today.

“It is a police pursuit aggravated by his failure to stop.”

She told the court the manner of the defendant’s driving was not the issue which first brought him to the attention of the police and asked for any prison sentence to be suspended, saying Ismail was “in a much more stable situation.”

Passing sentence, Recorder of Bolton, Judge Martin Walsh, rejected this.

Judge Walsh said: “It is only a matter of good fortune that a horrific collision did not take place. Your driving was simply appalling.

“I am satisfied only am immediate custodial sentence is appropriate in this case.”

He jailed Ismail, from Deane Church Lane, Bolton, for 14 months and banned him from the roads for four years and seven months and ordered him to take an extended retest before he can drive again.