A BANNED driver with police in pursuit got out of his car, but left the handbrake off - causing it to roll down a street and smash into two vehicles.

Burnley magistrates heard how burglar Joseph Farrelly Phillips, 29, was worried thieves may target the car, reported by a friend as broken down, and planned to get it back home.

Phillips, of Gannow Lane, Burnley, was jailed for four months, after admitting driving while disqualified, having no insurance, no MoT and driving without due care and attention.

Brian Irlam, defending, said prison would punish the defendant but not act as a deterrent.

He went on: "The defendant cannot reconcile the fact that he, having been a burglar and having committed offences of that type, is now always to be deprived of his liberty for a matter of driving. He is not able to get to grips with that."

Mr Irlam said Phillips, who had been out of prison for almost three months, had been loaned £300 to buy the car by his mother. It was now beyond repair and that was a form of punishment.

The driver's window of the vehicle had been smashed and Phillips had been particularly concerned about the car's security. A friend had borrowed it, went to Nelson and telephoned the defendant to say it had broken down. Phillips got a lift to the car, was able to start it and planned to bring it back to Burnley.

He was seen by police, there was not a chase as such and the defendant, knowing officers were behind him, got out but did not secure the handbrake.

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