A man who drove dangerously through Oldham Town Centre fleeing police, jumping through red lights and colliding with a taxi had been spared jail.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard Salik Ullah was spotted by police officers on George Street and spoken to about an unrelated matter.

During this his parked Vauxhall Zafira was checked and found to have no registered keeper and no insurance.

Ullah was accordingly told not to get behind the wheel but he ignored them and drove off.

Prosecutor Bob Elias revealed what happened next.

He said: "He went straight through traffic lights.

"The police constable activated emergency equipment.

"He caused another car to have to break partially to avoid a collision.

"He drove through a central reservation with two wheels to overtake vehicles.

"He drove onto King Street, he caused a car to swerve and break to avoid a collision.

"He collided with a taxi in a round about damaging the rear passenger side.

"This was a bad case of dangerous driving."

He said the incident had taken place across approximately half a mile.

Ullah appeared in court to be sentenced after confessing to the offence which took place in May last year.

The court heard the 48-year-old had seven convictions but had been out of trouble between 2004 and 2019.

Representing him, defence counsel Mark Fireman asked for him to be spared jail.

He said the previous gap in offending showed he could be rehabilitated and was concerned about losing his accommodation.

Imposing a sentence, judge Ian Harris said: "I wrote down 12 months reduced to eight months when I read the notes about your case.

"This was selfish high risk driving.

"Had anybody been injured by your driving then offence may have been different, the sentence would have been longer and custody would have been immediate."

He said factors such as the situation in prisons and the time Ullah had already been remanded allowed him to suspend the sentence of eight months for two years.

He also order Ullah, of Prospect Road in Oldham, to do 120 hours of unpaid work, attend 20 rehabilitation requirement days and banned him from driving for two years.