A DUDLEY man was left seriously injured when he was forced to jump over a wall to avoid being hit by a dangerous driver, who had been bailed by police hours earlier.

Stephen Beckley, of Blackacre Road, had been arrested by police officers for raiding the home of a friend Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

But a short time after being bailed he was spotted by patrolling officers who thought he was still on the "wanted" list for carrying out the raid.

The officers lost the 23 year-old’s Ford Escort but it went on to strike a Range Rover, having cut across the path of another driver in Pear Tree Lane.

His vehicle then mounted the pavement forcing Stephen Thomas to jump over a three and-a-half foot garden wall to avoid a collision, said  David Lees prosecuting.

Mr Thomas had to be stretchered to hospital on a spinal board, after suffering a serious back injury and a head wound.

Beckley admitted burglary, driving dangerously, without insurance and failing to stop and report an accident.

Judge Michael Dudley jailed him for 28 months and told him it was serious offending because the burglary in which he stole £6,825 worth of property, including jewellery of great sentimental value, was clearly a breach of trust, as he was staying at the property with the friend at the time.

Timothy Talbot-Webb defending said Beckley had been suffering from financial troubles after losing his job and his life took a "downward spiral."

Beckley, who had previous convictions for burglary, was further disqualified from driving for four years.