A MOTORIST who sped at 70mph in a 30mph zone during a two-mile chase with police around Lymm village has been spared jail.

Ahmed Dahshan fled from officers down the towpath of the Bridgewater Canal after the pursuit finally came to an end.

The 28-year-old was handed an eight-month imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, last week after admitting dangerous driving.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that police on patrol at around 4.30am on March 3 this year spotted the defendant’s Range Rover parked up on Sandy Lane.

The officers approached the car and asked for the driver’s details, but Dahshan stated that they ‘needed a warrant’ and drove away ‘at speed’.

Officers returned to their vehicle and began a pursuit along Richmond Drive, Howard Avenue and Rush Green Road.

They clocked the suspect travelling in excess of 70mph in a 30mph towards the centre of the village, driving on the wrong side of the road as he did so.

Dahshan, from Liverpool, eventually stopped on New Road near to the humpback bridge, but got out of his car and ran away along the canal towpath before being restrained.

He tested positive for cannabis at the scene, but no charges were brought in relation to this.

Recorder David O’Mahony told the defendant – who was previously convicted for failing to provide a specimen in 2018 and disqualified from driving for a year – off for having his hands in his pockets as he was sentenced on Wednesday, October 14.

The hearing was also interrupted by a barking dog, with both counsel having dialled into the hearing via video link from their homes.

Sentencing, the judge said: “It’s said that you are remorseful.

“It is never appropriate to behave in the way that you did.

“Having considered all matters, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can suspend this sentence.

“If in the next 18 months you commit any offences, you will be brought back to court and it is likely that this sentence will be brought into operation.”

Recorder O’Mahony also handed Dahshan – who moved to the UK aged three and has a wife and two children in Yemen – 120 hours of unpaid work and banned him from driving for two years.

The defendant was ordered to pay £1,200 in court costs plus a victim surcharge, and was also handed a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement and told to undergo a 19-day thinking skills programme.