A drugged-up driver who sped through Dewsbury was so dangerous that police were forced to abandon chasing him.
Michael Howarth first caught the attention of police as he left a Batley car park in the early hours of May 19.
They pulled the 21-year-old over but after a brief conversation with the officers he accelerated away.
Prosecutor Vanessa Jones told Kirklees magistrates: “The officers did follow for a couple of miles and Howarth was overtaking vehicles on the wrong side of the carriageway so that he could pass through.
“He went through red traffic lights and in the end the officers abandoned the pursuit because they thought it was too dangerous.”
The same officers later received a phone call to say that the car driven by Howarth had crashed, causing extensive damage to both the vehicle and some street furniture.
A witness reported seeing several people leaving the abandoned vehicle and walking towards Dewsbury Railway Station.
Police attended, saw Howarth with two others and recognised him from the earlier incident.
Following his arrest he was tested for drugs and a mixture of cocaine and cannabis were found in his blood.
Howarth pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, three charges of driving with a proportion of a controlled drug above the legal limit and using a vehicle without insurance. Magistrates committed his case to Leeds Crown Court for sentencing on August 28.
Howarth, of Greenside in Heckmondwike, was banned from driving in the interim.
