Phillips, R. v

The seriousness of dangerous driving must be assessed by reference to the circumstances of the individual offence. Dangerous driving undertaken to evade the police is a significant aggravating feature. Knowingly driving on unsafe tyres after an official warning is a further aggravating feature.

A short period of driving which causes no collision or injury may nevertheless cross the custodial threshold, but it may substantially affect the proper length of sentence. Whether custody should be suspended requires an evaluative application of the Sentencing Council Guideline on Imposition. Immediate custody is required where it alone reflects the appropriate punishment.

The appellant pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Reading to dangerous driving. He drove away from a police officer, passed through a red traffic light, travelled at very high speed through residential streets and failed to give way at a junction. He was driving on two bald tyres despite having been warned about them several days earlier.

The sentencing judge imposed 11 months’ imprisonment, disqualified him for three years and five-and-a-half months, and required an extended driving test. With leave, the appellant appealed against the starting point, the refusal to suspend the sentence, and the length of disqualification.

1. The appeal was allowed. The court accepted that the custodial threshold was crossed, but held that a notional sentence after trial of 15 months was excessive on the particular facts.

2. Dangerous driving while attempting to evade the police was a significant aggravating feature. The appellant’s knowledge that his tyres were bald, and that he had been officially warned to replace them, was a further aggravating feature. The driving was very dangerous because it occurred at high speed in daylight through residential streets, where a person could have entered the road.

3. Countervailing features remained material. The episode lasted only about one and a half minutes. It caused no accident or injury and lacked other aggravating features identified by the appellant. The appropriate notional sentence after trial was eight to nine months. After 25 per cent credit for the guilty plea, the proper custodial term was six months.

4. Having weighed the factors in the Sentencing Council Guideline on Imposition, the court rejected suspension. Only an immediate term of imprisonment reflected the appropriate punishment.

5. The disqualification was also excessive. The court quashed the 11-month sentence and the original disqualification order, substituting six months’ imprisonment and disqualification for 18 months with a three-month extension period, totalling 21 months. The extended driving-test requirement remained.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): In [2018] EWCA Crim 1531, allowed the appeal against sentence, substituted six months’ imprisonment, and reduced the disqualification period.
• Crown Court at Reading: On 9 January 2018, following a guilty plea to dangerous driving, imposed 11 months’ imprisonment and disqualification for three years and five-and-a-half months, subject to an extended driving test.