Dangerous driver has jail sentence cut
A dangerous driver who was jailed after leading police on a high speed chase through Staffordshire had his sentence cut by appeal judges.
Jamie Lee Edwards, 25, hit speeds up to 90mph and reversed into a police car as he desperately sought to evade capture in February.
Edwards, of Schofield Avenue, West Bromwich, was jailed for three years at Shrewsbury Crown Court in May.
He had admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and breaching a suspended sentence.
However two of the country's top judges said he had been too harshly punished and cut his sentence to two-and-a-half years.
Mr Justice Kenneth Parker said Edwards should have received more credit for pleading guilty to his offences.
The Court of Appeal heard police gave chase after spotting Edwards driving a van suspected to have been involved in fuel theft.
He drove at high speed on the hard shoulder of the M54 and on occasions left the motorway, one time reversing into a police car.
As he left the motorway near Cannock, a stinger device was deployed, bursting two tyres.
But he continued, heading for the M6, swerving all over the road on his flat tyres.
He was eventually stopped before he reached the motorway when police were able to overtake his van.
Sentencing, the crown court judge said he had deliberately driven the van, which had false plates, into the police car.
He already had a long list of offences to his name, including a dangerous driving incident which got him a suspended sentence.
His lawyers argued on appeal that the sentence was too long because he had not received a large enough reduction for pleading guilty.
Giving judgment, Mr Justice Parker, sitting today with Mr Justice Goss, agreed that a greater reduction should have been given.
'The total sentence on this basis would then have been 30 months, rather than 36 months, a total that was proportionate to the gravity of the offending as a whole.'
