Dangerous driver who took nitrous oxide jailed

A driver whose own dashcam recorded him crashing into several vehicles while high on nitrous oxide has been jailed for three years and eight months.

Cheten Bhardwaj, 35, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, possessing nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation and driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.

West Yorkshire Police said on 9 May last year Bhardwaj collided with a number of vehicles on Halifax Road in Bradford, leaving a woman seriously injured.

Ch Insp James Farrar described him as "reckless and selfish" and said the case showed the "often catastrophic consequences" of dangerous driving while using nitrous oxide.

Dashcam footage shown at Bradford Crown Court from the Volvo V40 Bhardwaj was driving captured his passenger repeatedly urging him to "slow down" and "use the brake" before the crashes.

Farrar said he was "thankful nobody was killed" after Bhardwaj, of New Cross Street in Bradford, "made a choice to get behind the wheel whilst under the influence and put other road users at risk".

Bhardwaj was also disqualified from driving for three years and 10 months.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.