Judge dismisses 'selfish' Northamptonshire boy racer as 'waste of money' to keep in jail

A boy racer who failed his driving test twice thought he could outsmart the police with some false plates and doing 70mph in a 40.

When Harry Bryson, of The Grange, Daventry, couldn't pass his test he took his mate's advice to stick some fake plates on his car and thought he was good to go.

But when police had a problem with that and tried to pull him over on the A5 in February, the 21-year-old went for plan B - outrunning the interceptors in his Vauxhall Astra.

Northampton Crown Court heard yesterday (May 10) how Bryson resorted to swinging the wrong way around roundabouts and accelerating to 70mph in a 40 zone in his bid to escape.

When he was caught, police found he didn't have a license or insurance - instead, he had a stash of cannabis in the car.

"My decision when I read this offence was to send you to immediate custody," said His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo.

"But then I thought what a waste of money that would be. Why should the country spend the best part of £40,000 to send you to prison for six months for your serious, irresponsible and totally selfish behaviour?

"So you can do some payment now. In the hope you never come back here again."

The court heard how police chose to pull over on the 21-year-old boy racer after an ANPR camera picked up on his false plates.

The chase at around 4pm on February 16 this year took in Braunstone Road and a major roundabout onto the Royall Oak Industrial Estate.

Judge Mayo handed Bryson a seven-month prison sentence suspended for two years and banned him from attempting a driving test for another year.

The judge said: "If you do come back here, the court will show you absolutely no mercy. Because you're selfish."

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly named the offender as Harry Benson. This has been corrected.