Picture: Derbyshire Police

A teenaged motorist who drove at more than 160mph down the M1 during a police pursuit has been jailed.

Usman Kiani was behind the wheel of an Audi A3 when he did not stop for officers in West Yorkshire.

He then started a pursuit across five counties before crashing. in Leicestershire.

Police officers tried to stop him the southbound stretch of the M1, but Kiani weaved dangerously around the night time traffic at breakneck speeds to evade them.

He then squeezed through a narrow gap between police cars and the central reservation – driving through the drainage gutter to speed past a rolling roadblock.

However, one squad car kept him in sight and directed other units into the pursuit, including a police helicopter.

Kiani was finally stopped after leaving the M1 at junction 20 and crashing into a wall in the village of Theddingworth, Leicestershire.

The 19-year-old from Luton, was charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop, and driving without insurance.

He was jailed for 12 months at Derby Crown Court on Thursday.

Inspector Greg Hunt, who leads our Roads Policing Unit, said:

“Usman Kiani fled from police and drove for miles upon miles at ridiculous speeds.

“His actions that night showed a shocking disregard not only for his own safety and that of his four passengers, but also the lives of other road users including my officers.

“One error of judgment behind the wheel at 165mph ends only one way – with death and destruction, and it is by sheer good fortune that this is not an entirely different story.

“The fact is that speeding kills.

“The limits are there for a reason and anything above that can easily result in serious injury or death.

“In Derbyshire, our focus is on clamping down on speeding and I hope Kiani’s sentence sends a message – if you speed, there are serious consequences at the end of the road.”