A DANGEROUS and disqualified driver has been locked up for more than two years for two separate incidents involving police pursuits when he was at the wheel of stolen cars.
Shocking police dashcam footage played in Bradford Crown Court showed a BMW driven by Erten Odabas speeding at 70mph through narrow residential 30mph streets around Upper Rushton Road in Fagley.
He went onto the wrong side of the road, onto the pavement, raced through red lights and off the road onto a grassed area before he and three passengers leapt out of the car and abandoned it.
The frenetic eight-and-a-half-minute chase on the afternoon of April 12 last year ended with the car rolling out of control down a hill with its doors open only stopping when it collided with a parked van.
Prosecutor Daisy Wrigley said police chased after Odabas on foot but lost sight of him. He was later found by a police dog hiding in a garden having removed his coat and trainers.
The car was later found to be stolen and cloned.
On January 11 this year Odabas was spotted in a stolen Audi S3 on Leeds Old Road driving towards Thornbury by police, who signalled for him to pull over.
Instead, he sped off but was apprehended following a short-lived pursuit through snow-covered streets. He was seen to climb from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat and told officers, “I’m not the driver.”
The court heard that 19-year-old Odabas, of Borrowdale Croft, Yeadon, had a lengthy criminal record for driving offences including causing serious injury by dangerous driving that left a mother with life-changing injuries in 2022 following a collision.
Her 19-month-old son in the vehicle was unharmed.
At the time of the most recent incidents, he was banned from driving until November 21, 2027.
He later pleaded guilty to two separate sets of dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified.
Mitigating, Saf Salam said Odabas was under no illusion that the lengthy police pursuit “does not stand him in good stead” and accepted he had an extensive criminal record.
He described his driving offences as “a pattern of reckless and risk-taking behaviour”.
Mr Salam said violence, domestic abuse and trauma in his childhood had contributed to Odabas’ entrenched criminal behaviour, and that he had been involved in crime since the age of 12.
He said he “struggles with impulsivity”.
He added: “The defendant has cited financial desperation as the primary motivator for his offending.
“He owed monies to a drug-related debt and accepted £100 to move a stolen motor vehicle intending to pay off £30 of his debt.
“He had previously been targeted by the same more sophisticated individual for driving jobs where he deliberately negotiated a higher payment before agreeing, showing elements of exploitation mixed with personal choice."
Sentencing Odabas, who appeared via video link from HMP Hull, to a total of 26 months imprisonment Miss Recorder Judy Dawson said: “I often find myself saying, in particular to young drivers, that they may not understand that cars are dangerous weapons and they can cause significant injuries or death to people.
“You more than anyone should understand that because you have already caused serious, life-changing injuries by your dangerous driving.
“You have an appalling record for dangerous driving.
“You present a high risk of causing injury to other road users.”
Odabas was banned from driving for three years and one month, and must take an extended retest before he gets behind the wheel again.
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