A 33-year-old man who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in Sudbury has been banned from driving for 18 months and given a 10 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

Mustafa Hodzhov previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen for analysis and was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday.

Hodzhov is from Bulgaria and of no fixed abode in the UK, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

The court heard a summary of facts and the mitigation to the sentence taken into account by Judge Richard Kelly.

Hodzhov came to the country in late December last year on a visiting visa.

On January 22, he was in front of a marked police car in Sudbury.

Judge Kelly told the defendant: “You switched lanes and appeared to be aware of police behind you that caused police to intervene.”

The court heard he may have panicked “due to his illegal driving status”.

This resulted in a police pursuit that lasted about four minutes.

Judge Kelly said dashcam footage had shown him overtaking vehicles at speed and travelling on the wrong side of the road, forcing vehicles to stop and travelling the wrong way around a roundabout.

At one point he mounted a curb lost control drove across grass verge then hit a car and Judge Kelly said the driver of the damaged car “was shocked by what happened”.

Hodzhov eventually slowed down and was then arrested by police however he refused to provide a specimen for analysis.

The court heard the defendant “accepted good deal of responsibility” and has hopes for living in the Sudbury area.  

On top of the suspended sentence, he was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days.