A boy racer who led police on a high speed chase just days after being released from custody has been locked up.

Tyler Branche, of Royds Street, Accrington, reached speeds of 73mph in 30mph residential areas and drove through red lights, on the wrong side of a road round blind bends and over a humpback bridge at 60mph.

Burnley Crown Court heard the 19-year-old was spotted by police in a Ford Fiesta in Padiham at around 1.50am on August 2. The car had been stolen several days earlier in a house burglary.

Kate Hammond, prosecuting, told the court Branche was ‘chased along various roads’ and ‘straddled the white lines virtually throughout’.

After a three-minute chase he then tried to escape on foot but was captured by police.

The court heard how Branche appeared before magistrates the next day and was granted bail after admitting the offences.

However, the prolific offender was then spotted six days later on August 9 in a £2,500 Renault Twingo which had been stolen from a house on Barnfield Street in Accrington around 24 hours earlier.

The prosecutor said police saw Branche driving along Exchange Street in Accrington at around 5.45pm. The car ‘made off at speed’ but Branche quickly dumped the car on Dover Street and again tried to flee unsuccessfully on foot.

Branche pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, handling stolen goods, taking a vehicle without consent and two counts each of driving without insurance and using a vehicle without a licence.

He was sent to a young offenders institute for 16 months and disqualified from driving for 32 months.

The Observer reported last month how Branche, then of Higher Antley Street, was given a six-month sentence for numerous theft offences relating to garages and cars across Hyndburn. He was released on licence on July 24.

Clare Thomas, defending, said the only mitigation are his early guilty pleas.

She told the court how cannabis user Branche has had an ‘extremely troubled upbringing’ and that when he was released from custody he had ‘no accommodation, no routine and no structure’.

Miss Thomas said: “He is someone who is not without ability and has competed abroad in snowboarding. He is not somebody who is without hope.”

Judge Philip Parry told Branche that he had ‘effectively stuck two fingers up at the system’.

The court heard how Branche has 13 previous convictions for 30 offences and had ‘all manner of help’ offered by the probation service.

Sentencing, Judge Parry told him: “Within days of being released from court you had committed these offences. You have simply reverted back to what you used to do. You got back into the same group of friends who were a very poor influence on you.

“You have reverted back to misusing cannabis and alcohol and there has been little or no contact with your responsible officer. You have shown a complete disregard to all support offered to you and any and all rehabilitative measures offered by probation.

“In other words you have effectively stuck two fingers up at the system by being released and simply turning your back on all of those professionals who have offered you help. You are fast becoming institutionalised which for a man of 19 is a very sad state of affairs.”

Judge Parry said Branche’s driving was ‘intentional and calculated and that it had a ‘had serious risk of injury or death’.

Judge Philip Parry told Branche that he had ‘effectively stuck two fingers up at the system’.

The court heard how Branche has 13 previous convictions for 30 offences and had ‘all manner of help’ offered by the probation service.

Sentencing, Judge Parry told him: “Within days of being released from court you had committed these offences. You have simply reverted back to what you used to do. You got back into the same group of friends who were a very poor influence on you.

“You have reverted back to misusing cannabis and alcohol and there has been little or no contact with your responsible officer. You have shown a complete disregard to all support offered to you and any and all rehabilitative measures offered by probation.

“In other words you have effectively stuck two fingers up at the system by being released and simply turning your back on all of those professionals who have offered you help.

“You are fast becoming institutionalised which for a man of 19 is a very sad state of affairs.”

Judge Parry said Branche’s driving was ‘intentional and calculated and that it had a ‘had serious risk of injury or death’.