Driver who made trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats CLEARED of dangerous driving charges after setting new record
A DRIVER who bragged about driving the length of Britain in under a record-breaking ten hours has been acquitted of dangerous driving charges.
Thomas Davies, 29, of Corwen in North Wales, made headlines after he boasted about dashing 841 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in nine hours and 36 minutes in 2017.
But, Davies told a jury it was not his Audi car, he was not driving and the trip was done in 12 hours.
Representing himself during the trial, he denied the charges, and said: “I understand I have done some stupid things, that is obvious.
“I am not the same man I was three years ago and if I could go back and do things differently I would, not in a way of covering my tracks because it’s just stupid.”
He had been accused of completing the 837-mile journey from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End Cornwall in the fastest ever land time of nine-and-a-half hours in an Audi A5 S5.
A jury at Truro Crown Court was told that Davies had kept the drive secret in a bid to avoid prosecution.
Prosecutors alleged he had used two transponders to detect upcoming speed cameras, and also had fake Irish number plates on the car.
The court also heard that Davies waited six months before boasting of his feat on an online blog, and his story later featured in several national newspapers and on Radio Two’s Jeremy Vine show.
But, defending himself, he said the case against him was “purely circumstantial at best”.
Davis also said that if he had done the speed alleged, the car would have been captured by at least one of more than 50 speed cameras en route.
“The blog is a story, it’s an exaggeration of a trip that happened between John O’Groats and Land’s End,” he told the court.
“This trip did happen but not how this blog describes it and not how this prosecution has brought this case.
“The prosecution are wedded to this notion this blog is right, the police are wedded to the notion this blog was a detailed description of what happened, it was accurate and they built their case around the blog.”
Davies was on Friday found not guilty of two charges of dangerous driving and two charges of perverting the course of justice relating to driving across the country at high speed.
Prosecutor Ryan Murray claimed the driver accomplished the feat by travelling at “extremely dangerous” speeds and using devices and fake number plates “to avoid detection.”
It was also claimed the Welshman waited six months to tell the world about the record because speeding in the UK has to be prosecuted within six months.
Mr Murray said: “This is a case about two tips of the UK – John O’Groats in the north of Scotland and Land’s End here in Cornwall and the defendant’s ambition to travel from one of those points to the other, in a motor vehicle quicker than anyone else had ever done before.
“It is also about, the prosecution say, illegal methods that he used to achieve his ambition.”
I understand I have done some stupid things, that is obvious.
Thomas Davies
He said the points are 841 miles apart and on an average day with average traffic would take around 15 hours to complete.
But Mr Murray said Davies did it in nine hours and 36 minutes and a tracker he fitted to his car recorded that.
The prosecuting lawyer said: “To travel 841 miles in that time requires the driving to be fast, very fast in fact. You may think this is obvious.
“Speed records are after all not easily broken by vehicles that travel slowly.”
He claimed Davies’ average speed would have been 89mph which is “an extremely dangerous way to drive.”
In August 2018, police raided the driver’s home and found a silver Audi A5 S5 which the Welshman claims he used to sensationally break the speed record, Mr Murray said.
Cops then found an extra 80 litre fuel tank in the boot which was free to rattle around in the boot and was not sealed, added the prosecutor.
Also found were four transponders known as jammers – two under the front registration plate and two under the rear plate- which are used to sense a speed laser.
He said there was a device which warns of fixed or mobile police radar speedometers.
Mr Murray said these devices and fake number plates were used “ to avoid detection.”
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The jury acquitted Davies, of Corwen, Denbighshire, North Wales, of all charges after four hours’ deliberations. He hugged a friend as he left the court.
Driving experts speaking on Vanessa Feltz’s radio show hadn’t believed Davies’ boast.
One pointed out: “I smell a rat. If his average speed was 89mph then he must have hit 150mph.”
