'Dog sat on my accelerator' speeding driver is jailed - Update

A man who blamed his dog for sitting on the pedals when he was caught driving at nearly 100mph has been jailed for 13 months. Jordan Winn told police his Staffordshire bull terrier was in the footwell of his Volvo S60 as he sped along a 30mph zone last October. He had admitted dangerous driving at a previous hearing, but said it only happened because Buster sat on the accelerator pedal. During sentencing at Durham Crown Court, the judge said it was a "ludicrous account" which he dismissed.



Winn was spotted by a police officer in Chester-le-Street who then set off in pursuit. Footage played in court showed the police car reached 88mph in an attempt to catch up with Winn. The officer estimated Winn must have been driving at close to 100mph. His Volvo could then be seen braking hard and turning right, just missing an oncoming car which had two adults and two children in it. He stopped around a mile from where the police chase started.


Winn went on to blame Buster when he was arrested and later interviewed. The judge told him: "You advanced an utterly ludicrous account on which you were to insist for over a year. You told the police officer the reason you drove in that manner is because the dog that was in your vehicle was jumping around and became trapped beneath your foot." The judge said Winn claimed the car accelerated and braked "because the dog's backside was on the pedals of the vehicle".


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That claim was dismissed at the previous hearing, known as a trial of issue. Sentencing the 23-year-old, the judge said he would be failing the public if he did not immediately jail him. "Your driving was extremely dangerous and it is just a matter of pure good fortune that nobody was seriously injured or killed during what was I am quite sure a police pursuit." The judge said he was not being punished for the "ludicrous defence" he put forward, but for the potential harm he caused to others. Winn was also disqualified from driving for three years.