A barber who reached a hair-raising speed of 140mph during a police chase on the M2 has been jailed.

Bakay Behdjet was said to be in a “heightened state” when he accelerated away from officers on the coastbound A2 at Cobham just after midnight on August 8 last year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that as well as reaching “significantly excessive” speeds while at the wheel of his girlfriend’s Audi TT as he continued onto the M2, he undertook other vehicles, veered “suddenly” onto slip roads and jumped a red light.

The 33-year-old, who only held a provisional licence and was therefore uninsured, drove so fast that the pursuing police lost sight of him and it was not until almost four hours later that the Audi was found abandoned in Sandborne Drive, Maidstone.

The court heard that at the time of the offence Behdjet was “in a state of heightened emotions and not thinking correctly” after rowing with his partner and taking her car without her permission.

He also admitted to police following his arrest that although he had failed to pull over because he was “scared” and then sped up on seeing their blue lights, he had not realised how fast he was going.

Behdjet, of The Chimes, Bearsted, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance.

“It is pure luck you didn’t kill yourself or, far worse, someone else…”

But a judge told him at his sentencing hearing on Monday (February 10) that it was simply by “pure luck” his actions had not led to more serious charges.

Unfortunately, the prosecution were unable to furnish the court with the precise distance or time length of the pursuit - details which the judge, Recorder David Jeremy KC, said were “fundamental” in a case of dangerous driving.

Neither of the two officers involved had included the information in their statements, nor had any dashcam or CCTV footage been uploaded to the digital case files.

But on jailing Behdjet for 12 months, Recorder Jeremy said the pursuit had “obviously lasted some significant time” and included not only highly dangerous manoeuvres but also a “deliberate disregard” for the rules of the road and safety of others.

“A chase developed and you drove at speeds up to 140mph, undertaking other vehicles, suddenly veering off to drive up slip roads and driving through a red light at high speed,” he told the defendant.

“It is pure luck you didn’t kill yourself or, far worse, someone else.”

Behdjet, who has previous convictions for aggravated vehicle taking and failing to stop after an accident, was also banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay £1,000 court costs by April 30.

However, due to time already served on remand, he was immediately released from custody.