Dealer threw drugs from car in police chase

Officers signalled Vishnu Mitra to pull over because of his erratic driving in Bramley, Leeds, on the evening of April 11 and at first he appeared to stop at the kerb.

But when one Pc approached Mitra’s Audi and tried to open the driver’s door to speak to him, he sped off, Anna Wilkinson, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.

As he tried to get away from them, he then threw a large plastic bag from his window before at one stage mounting the pavement and, at another, going on the wrong side of the road colliding with a Seat Ibiza.

He continued driving, reaching 52mph in a 30mph zone, before throwing out a second black bin liner from his window.

The pursuit only ended when he collided with a garden wall. Mitra ran off but was caught soon after.

The two bin liners were examined and found to contain 677 grammes of cannabis worth £5,800.

Narinder Rathour, for Mitra, said he was put under pressure when his car was taken by others and when it was returned he was told he owed them a debt. That was to be paid by acting as a courier for the drugs.

When the police tried to stop him he had panicked and accepted his driving was atrocious for which he was extremely remorseful.

Mitra, 27, of Ashlea Green, Bramley, Leeds, admitted possessing the drug with intent to supply and dangerous driving and was jailed for a total of two years and disqualified for 12 months.

Sentencing him, Judge James Spencer QC, said he did not accept Mitra’s account and there had to be a custodial sentence because he had previous involvement with drugs.

He said Mitra was convicted in 2002 of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and in October last year was given a community order for producing cannabis, an order he was under at the time of his latest offences.