'Wheelie' dangerous driver released from custody after appeal win

Tuesday 05 January 2021

A 20-year-old motorcyclist, who repeatedly performed 'wheelies', including in heavy traffic, has been released from youth detention after he successfully appealed his sentence before the Royal Court.

The driver - who cannot be named for legal reasons - has been given 170 hours of community service in lieu of his custodial sentence and remains disqualified for five years.

He had appeared before Magistrate’s Court in June 2020 facing four counts of dangerous driving and nine other road traffic offences, which had all been committed between May and December 2019.

One of the dangerous driving charges involved an incident during which he had repeatedly driven on one wheel from Havre des Pas, over Mount Bingham, and as far as Commercial Buildings. 

Pictured: The driver had been sentenced before the Magistrate's Court over 13 driving offences.

Other incidents saw him performing the single-wheel stunt whilst overtaking vehicles on La Grande Route de St. Aubin and Victoria Avenue, amid heavy traffic.

The 20-year-old was also involved in another incident after he lost control of a pick-up truck, whilst taking the corner between Union Road and the Parade too fast, and swung towards the pavement. A witness said that, on this occasion, the young driver appeared to be enjoying himself and was shouting out of his window at her.  

He was sentenced to a year in youth detention, a five-year driving ban and a fine of £1,300, or six-weeks imprisonment in default of payment in the Magistrate's Court.

However, the man, who was represented by Advocate Adam Harrison, appealed the custodial sentence before the Royal Court arguing that Magistrate Bridget Shaw had erred in law by imposing youth detention.

The Young Offenders' Law states a custodial sentence can only be passed if “no other method of dealing with the person is appropriate” because the defendant has failed to respond to non-custodial penalties, it is the only way to protect the public or the offence is so serious no other sentence is appropriate."

Pictured: Advocate Adam Harrison was defending.

Advocate Harrison argued that his client had no criminal record, had stayed out of trouble for over five months between the last offence and his sentencing and had respected the terms of his interim disqualification. He also noted the Probation Service had deemed his client was at low risk of reconviction.

Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam said the absence of previous convictions was of “little assistance” as the number of offences increased. While he was a first-time offender before the Court, she argued that it was clear from the charges that he had committed a number of offences in sequence and he knew when he committed the later offences that he was under investigation. 

Likewise, she said that it was to the young driver’s credit that he had followed the terms of his interim disqualification but added it did not carry much weight when “balanced with his extended and deliberate offending."

Advocate Hallam also said that, while the young man had not reoffended between the last offence and the sentencing hearing, there had previously been gaps of seven or five months in his offending and that a police investigation had not dissuaded him from reoffending.

Pictured: The Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, heard the appeal with Jurats Charles Blampied and Steven Austin-Vautier.

The Royal Court also heard that the Magistrate’s conclusion was open to her because she was confronted by “persistent, deliberate and extended dangerous driving, sometimes uninsured, by an offender who was well aware of the illegality of his actions but chose to continue anyway and put members of the public at risk."

The case was heard by the Bailiff Timothy Le Cocq, and Jurats Charles Blampied and Steven Austin-Vautier, who agreed that the custodial threshold had been passed.

They however concluded that other sentences could have been used to deal with the young offender, such as a community service order.

In their judgment, they wrote: “In our view, there was evidence before the Magistrate of very serious bad driving but there was also evidence, referred to above, that the Appellant had abided by his bail conditions, had not breached the disqualification, and had been out of trouble for a number of months.  There had been a period of automatic disqualification during which there had been no suggestion that the Appellant had driven.”

The young man has been released from youth detention and will have to carry out instead 170 hours of community service, the equivalent of a 11-month sentence.