A 22-year-old who was banned from driving has been jailed after police caught him with around £850 worth of heroin and crack cocaine following a car chase. 

On Tuesday, Burnley Crown Court heard how Mohammed Hasnat Ali had been seen driving a car in Oxford Road, Nelson, by police on April 18 last year.

One of the officers, PC Archer, recognised Ali as being disqualified from driving and began to follow his vehicle.

Instead of stopping, Ali sped off and took a left turn into Coppice Close where he abandoned his car while it was still moving, causing it to crash into another vehicle.

Prosecuting, Paul Brookwell said: "The defendant left the car with a forward roll and ran away.

"He was followed by an officer and as he ran he threw some bags of drugs away which were later recovered.

"He was eventually caught and detained in a field by the police.

"Nine bags of heroin weighing 7.43g with a street value of £300 were recovered, along with 23 bags of crack cocaine at 5.61g worth around £540.

"Ali was also found with £395 in cash in a man bag."

Ali was tested for drugs and made no comment in a police interview, but did plead guilty to the charges of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin, and dangerous driving. 

The 22-year-old, of Chapel House Road, Nelson, has no previous convictions for drug supply but does have a driving conviction from August 2020 for which he received his ban.

In mitigation, Anthony Stephenson said his client had gotten into a drug debt and to pay it off had been ordered to sell drugs for his suppliers. 

He said: "He fell in with the wrong crowd but has realised the error of his ways too late."

Recorder Paul Hodgkinson said it was "tragic" he had to hand Ali a custodial sentence, as he had no previous drugs offences on his record and had received glowing character references.

He said: "There has been a delay in these proceedings as your phone was seized because the police wanted to analyse it, but luckily for you the phone didn't show that you were prolifically drug dealing."

Ali was handed 30 months in prison and was disqualified from driving for two years and four months.