An unlicensed driver who led police on a high-speed chase in Leeds has been jailed.
Marius Picioroaga led police on a five-minute chase around Harehillls before being chased on foot and caught, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Police in a BMW noticed an uninsured silver Ford Focus driving along Nowell Lane in Harehills at 4.25am on January 3 last year.
Mehran Nassiri, prosecuting, said Picioroaga accelerated when officers followed it and reached 50mph on Nowell Mount.
The officers used turned on the blue lights and sirens and Picioroaga drove through red lights.
Other officers deployed a stinger at the junction of Roundhay Road and Harehills Road.
Picioroaga accelerated again and drove at 55mph in a 20mph zone before heading back to a street near where the chase had started.
He got out of the car and was arrested after a short chase on foot.
In his interview, he said he had a provisional licence, had bought the car for £700 the day before from an unknown seller and panicked when police followed him.
He failed to attend court on January 26 last year and when he was arrested three weeks ago he was remanded into custody.
Picioroaga, now 23, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without a licence and insurance. He has no previous convictions.
Georgina Goring, mitigating, said her client, a Romanian national and does not speak English, has worked at a car wash since arriving in the UK in 2014.
Picioroaga, who lives with his sister, her husband and their children in Clifton Mount, Burmantofts, was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment and disqualified from driving for two years and three months.
His family were in the public gallery during the sentencing hearing.
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