An Audi driver has been spared jail in what is believed to be a legal first for deliberately slamming on his brakes in a fit of road rage. Harvey Schofield, 52, was caught on dashcam driving in front of a tipper truck on the M56 near Chester, making hand gestures and then braking needlessly.
At Chester Magistrates' Court, Schofield was found guilty of dangerous driving and handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for one year. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, fined £620, disqualified from driving for 12 months, and required to take an extended driving test.
The court heard that the HGV driver had been flashing his lights to indicate it was safe for a tipper truck to pull into lane one when Schofield's Audi A7 sped into view. The tipper driver, who has 45 years of lorry driving experience, said in a statement: 'It could have been a completely different story if I hadn't braked so quickly.'
Cheshire Police said the case was a first for the force where a motorist has been prosecuted for dangerous driving as a result of dashcam footage. PC Liz Thompson said: 'The footage clearly showed that Schofield deliberately undertook the tipper truck, then for no apparent reason deliberately pulled out into the path of the vehicle and intentionally slammed on his brakes.'
David Keane, police and crime commissioner for Cheshire, added that dashcam footage is increasingly used to crack down on bad driving and encouraged residents to submit evidence of traffic offences to help reduce serious incidents on the roads.
