A trainee quantity surveyor has won a court battle to reduce his driving ban after he was caught speeding at 126mph. Ollie Harris was initially disqualified for 18 months following the incident on the A4232 in Cardiff.
The 20-year-old, from Ely, admitted driving his BMW 3 Series over the 70mph limit at around 9pm on December 30 last year. When magistrates passed sentence in June they explained the lengthy ban was due to his "extreme speed", adding: "He is a new driver and the road is considered busy. He also speeded away from police."
Appeal against disqualification
Harris, who works for construction firm Lancer Scott, took the case to Cardiff Crown Court where he appealed against the length of the disqualification.
The court heard a police officer in a marked vehicle had seen Harris driving at 92mph so began to follow him. Harris then accelerated to 126mph before being pulled over by the officer. He was speeding for around a minute in total.
Harris' solicitor Adam Sharp said his client had "unwisely" decided not to be represented by a lawyer at the Cardiff Magistrates' Court sentencing and had not properly explained the mitigating circumstances.
Mitigating circumstances
Mr Sharp told the court there had been good visibility on the A4232 and traffic was light. His client was on the way back to Cardiff after visiting a friend.
"He was initially unaware police were behind his vehicle," said the solicitor. "It is not suggested there was a police pursuit, per se, and he fully cooperated when pulled over."
The court heard Harris had been dealing with mental health issues stemming from his upbringing as an only child in a household where his father was absent and he witnessed traumatic incidents.
"He had been experiencing low mood, depression, and frustration for many years, which was exacerbated during the Christmas period," said Mr Sharp. "He feels his reckless driving reflects the struggles he was going through at the time."
Impact of the ban
The solicitor described his client as "very hardworking and industrious", adding: "Lancer Scott is funding his further education one day a week at the University of South Wales in Treforest where he is studying quantity surveying and commercial management."
"He has been using public transport but his role at Lancer Scott requires him to travel all over the southwest of England and all over Wales – duties which he has not been able to fulfil, meaning added pressure on his colleagues. It is testament to how highly he is regarded by his employer that they stand by him and continue to invest in him."
The court heard the ban has also made it more difficult for Harris to fulfil caring duties to his mother and grandmother.
Since the speeding incident he has been prescribed an antidepressant and referred for further mental health support. He is in a stable relationship and in his free time enjoys boxing in Splott, said Mr Sharp.
The court also heard he had been driving for more than two years before the incident without accruing any points on his licence. He had no previous convictions of any kind, said the solicitor, who described the speeding as "wholly out of character" and the length of the ban as "manifestly excessive".
Ban reduced
After retiring to consider the appeal with two magistrates Recorder Claire Pickthall said it was clear Harris was "a great support" to his family and highly regarded in the workplace. The disqualification had clearly had a "significant impact" on those who relied on him, the judge added.
Reducing the driving ban to eight months she told Harris: "You are not of assistance to anyone if you kill yourself or anyone else by driving in such a reckless way in the future. We hope you truly have learned your lesson, Mr Harris, and that you never repeat such driving."
Harris nodded vigorously. After he had left the court we asked if he had learned his lesson to which he said: "Most definitely, yeah, because of the impact it's had on my family and also because it's stupid. I shouldn't be putting myself or anyone else at risk on the road at all so I've learned a massive lesson from this."
"It was due to my own mental health issues. It doesn't excuse it at all, I can acknowledge that, but it does give a partial explanation of why I've done it. Since then I've mitigated that and gone further to develop myself to ensure nothing like that would ever happen again."
In his initial sentence the defendant, of Kenwood Road in Ely, was ordered to pay a £115 fine, £130 in prosecution costs, and a £36 victim services surcharge. Those amounts were not challenged in the appeal hearing.
