A man who drove a stolen car at 70mph in a 40mph area has been jailed for three years and three months.

Police saw the Volkswagen Golf, being driven by Paul Chadwick, 26, and a Toyota Rav 4, on the A658 at Pool Bank. The cars had been stolen from the drive of a house in Menston, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Alun Jones said there was a short pursuit and both vehicles were struggling to maintain grip.

The vehicles split up and the Volkswagen was found abandoned at the junction of Moore Road and Old Toad in Bradford. Chadwick’s DNA was found on the airbag.

Michael Collins, mitigating, said Chadwick, a roofer and plasterer, of Halton Moor Road, Leeds, had failed his two-year-old daughter.

Chadwick, a three strikes burglar, pleaded guilty to burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and driving while disqualified.

Recorder Toby Wynn said Chadwick, who had chosen not to wear a seat belt, placed a low value on his own life, but the courts placed a high value on innocent members of the public who came across him.

He told him: “Your two-year-old child needs a father and you are depriving her of that through your offending.”

Chadwick was banned from driving for three years.