A JOHNSTONE man who starved his dog over four months has been jailed for leading cops on a high-speed chase while banned from driving.

Jonathan Irwin, 27, failed to provide his pet Keisha with enough food or water between September, 2015 and January, 2016, causing her to become emaciated.

He originally faced charges of neglecting two dogs – Keisha and Buddy Love.

But a charge he had also failed to provide Buddy Love with “appropriate and adequate nutrition, whereby said dog lost weight and muscle mass”, was dropped in an agreed plea with prosecutors.

Irwin pleaded guilty to neglecting Keisha, in breach of Section 19(2) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, at a Paisley Sheriff Court hearing last year and was spared jail for the offence.

Sheriff Robert Fife placed him on a Community Payback Order (CPO), requiring him to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work within nine months, and banned him from keeping all animals for three years.

However, in February this year, he got into more trouble when he was caught driving a Vauxhall Astra, while disqualified, in Maple Drive, Johnstone.

And, on March 22, he led police on a high-speed chase in a Vauxhall Vectra from the town’s Elm Drive to Linwood, leading to him pleading guilty to dangerous driving.

The details emerged when Irwin was sentenced for the driving offences.

Procurator fiscal depute Eoin McGinty told the court that Irwin careered along several streets in Johnstone and Linwood at around 55mph.

He undertook a bus, ran red lights, drove on the wrong side of the road and caused other cars to swerve out of the way as he tried and failed to evade capture.

Sheriff Fife ruled there was only one way to deal with Irwin, for what he termed “an appalling example of dangerous driving.”

He caged him for 11 months, banned him from driving for four years and ordered him to sit and pass the extended test before ever getting behind the wheel again.

Sheriff Fife opted to revoke the CPO he imposed in October for the animal neglect, deferring sentence on Irwin for that offence until next year.