A FORMER drug dealer who was found to be armed with a stun gun after he led police on a high-speed chase has been jailed for 19 months.

Ramin Mohammadzadeh was high on a cocktail of drugs when he went the wrong way on Station Road as well as down back alleys as he tried to get away.

And when the 32-year-old, who was banned from the road and has never had a licence, was finally caught he was found with a taser-type device which doubled as a torch.

But the Iranian could not be convicted of drug driving or driving while disqualified because the police took too long to charge him, Swindon Crown Court was told.

Philip Warren, prosecuting, told how the incident took place in the Broad Street area just after 2.15am on Tuesday, January 30 last year.

He said police on Manchester Road noticed the smell of cannabis coming from his car so, thinking it might belong to a dealer, tried to flag it down.

But rather than stop, the Vauxhall Corsa turned round mounting the pavement near Rosebery Street, and then drove away at speed.

After doing 50mph in a 30mph zone he turned on to Alfred Street, Armstrong Street, Corporation Street then the wrong way up Station Road.

He then turned in to Wellington Street, then Haydon Street before going along alleyways behind houses and then back on to Manchester Road by the bus station.

The car, still speeding, then turned on to Ponting Street on to Broad Street and down to County Road.

After the car stopped in Bathurst Road, the driver leapt from the vehicle and ran in to County Road and was arrested after vaulting a fence into a garden.

A blood sample showed he was just over the limit for cocaine and more than three times over for cannabis.

“By the time he was charged with this it was too late to charge him with offences of driving while over the limit,” Mr Warren said.

In his pocket police also found a working stun gun, which doubled as a torch, and a small amount of cannabis in the car.

Mohammadzadeh, of Hinton Street, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, having a stun gun and possessing cannabis.

In May 2014 he was spared jail after he was convicted of dealing cannabis and more recently he was jailed for dangerous driving in London.

Probation officer Jessica Helmer-Pedley told the court he said he had come to the UK when he was 21 seeking asylum, but was refused.

She said he told her he had been in an argument with his partner, was in the car to keep warm and had gone to get petrol and panicked when he saw the police.

Richard Williams, defending, said his client had been living in the shadows as he could not legally work, though had got some cash in hand jobs at car washes.

He said he is also unable to register with a GP as he is illegally here and insists the stun gun was not his but in the pocket of the coat he put on to keep warm.

As well as jailing him Judge Jason Taylor QC also banned him from the road for two years and nine months and until he passes and extended test.

He said “You had a cocktail of drugs in your system: slightly over the limit for cocaine, but highly over the limit for cannabis. You also had a stun gun.

“The most concerning thing about the weapons charge is you had it with you while under the influence of drugs, and that makes you unpredictable. Of course you don’t want someone with a weapon in an unpredictable state.”