Driving ban cut for dangerous motorist who sped the wrong way down a dual carriageway

Nathan Luke Cook, 18, of Lawley Street, Dudley, sped off in a Peugeot 106 after police spotted him driving while uninsured in Wolverhampton last August.

He repeatedly broke the speed limit, went through red lights, overtook without indicating and drove on the wrong side of the road.

Eventually, he abandoned the car in Interclyde Drive, in Parkfields, and was later arrested by police.

Cook admitted dangerous driving and driving while uninsured and without a licence and was jailed for 10 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court in October.

He was also banned from driving for five years and five months, but has no seen two years slashed from his disqualification period by top judges.

His legal team had argued that the original ban was so long it could actually harm his chances of rehabilitating himself after his sentence.

Manifestly excessive

Cutting it, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: "This aspect of the sentence was manifestly excessive and should be reduced."

The court heard Cook claimed he panicked when he realised the officers had spotted him driving in Ring Road, St George's, because he did not have a licence.

He had then driven dangerously, including past a children's play area, while his female passenger begged him to stop.

After driving into a dead end, he abandoned the still moving car and ran off on foot.

His passenger was rescued from the vehicle, which had mounted a grass verge and went down an embankment.

Mr Justice Baker, sitting at the Court of Appeal with Mr Justice Warby, said Cook had put the public, his passenger and himself in danger for a 10-minute period.

"He drove in a dangerous way for a long period, presenting a serious danger and terrifying his passenger," he said.

"The sentencing judge was entitled to take the view that this young man was a danger to the public through driving."

The ban was reduced to three years and five months.