AN “extremely foolish” learner driver led cops on a chase which started at Merry Hill and hit speeds of 60mph in residential streets.

Jordan Ricketts from Dudley was stopped at the end of a frightening 11-mile police pursuit by officers using a stinger device to burst his tyres.

During the chase 21-year-old Ricketts went through traffic lights on red, drove on the pavement and also went the wrong way round a traffic island.

Judge Amjad Nawaz at Wolverhampton Crown Court told Ricketts it was “extremely foolish” behaviour, adding: “It only takes a second of recklessness to take a life.”

He said Ricketts made a determined bid to get away from officers in the £1,000 Renault Clio he had owned for a year - despite never having passed his driving test.

The judge said: “It is down to good fortune that no damage or injury was caused by your driving. This chase was over an extremely long distance and a long period of time.”

He ruled that because Ricketts, of St Georges Road, had never been in trouble before with police he was just able to avoid sending him straight into custody.

Ricketts admitted driving dangerously and without a licence or insurance - and he was given an 18-month jail term suspended for two years.

He was further placed on supervision for two years, ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work in the community and told by the judge he must also forfeit his car.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, told the court the 16-minute chase began when police ordered Ricketts to pull over near the Merry Hill shopping centre in Brierley Hill and he accelerated away.

The Renault was finally brought to a halt when the stinger device burst its two front tyres and Ricketts, who had three passengers in the car, was arrested.

Simon Hanns, for Ricketts, said his client acted in sheer panic when officers called for him to pull over because he had no insurance or licence.

Mr Hanns added: “He has had the car for about a year which is a particularly long time to drive without a licence. He accepts he has a lot to learn and that he behaved badly.”