An Oldham man who drove through a red light while disqualified and resisted arrest has been spared jail.

Tameside Magistrates’ Court heard Afzal Patel urged a police officer to spray him in the face while resisting arrest.

The 35-year-old appeared in the dock yesterday to be sentenced for a string of offences including resisting arrest, driving without a licence or insurance, jumping through a red light and having insufficient tyre tread on the car he was in as well as driving while disqualified.

He had been due to go on trial last month claiming he was not the man involved in the incident in October 2019 but changed his pleas at the last moment to guilty.

Prosecutor Gareth Hughes revealed what happened.

He said: “It was late in the evening just before midnight, an officer on patrol in the Oldham area approached the King Street roundabout.

“A BMW goes through the red light.”

He said the police officer followed him to a petrol station where he refused to engage after saying the light was amber at the time he went through and went on to buy fuel.

In the meantime the officer realised the car was insured to a female and the tyre tread was insufficient.

Mr Hughes added: “The officer thought he wasn’t very cooperative.”

He said when he went to arrest him Patel resisted and the two became involved in a scuffle which took them to the floor.

He said the police officer threatened to spray him with CS Spray and Patel said “go on then” before he was sprayed three times.

This allowed the officer to call for assistance and Patel was detained.

Police identified him from items in the car and it was found he had been banned from the roads just two months earlier.

Representing Patel, of Briscoe Street in Oldham, defence solicitor Ashfaq Ashraf asked for his client to be spared jail.

He said: “The defendant hasn’t committed any offences since this offence some 16 months ago.

“The defendant clearly has issues with his thinking and his decision making.

“I would respectfully submit that custody would not address those issues.”

He added that he was in work and provided for his family.

Magistrates Alan Mass said custody had been seriously considered.

He said: “We make no bones about this, these are serious offences.

“We did actively consider a custodial sentence today.”

He placed him on a community order for two years, ordered him to attend at 16 rehabilitation days, placed him under a curfew for 12 weeks meaning he must not leave his home between 8pm and 6am and ordered him to do 120 hours of unpaid work.

He also ordered him to pay £100 in compensation to the police officer involved in the incident.