John O'Groats-Land's End 'record speed' driver cleared - BBC News
Thomas Davies told a jury he had been exaggerating about how quickly he drove the 841-mile journey.
Tommy Davies wrote a blog about his journey and spoke about it on BBC Radio 2

A car enthusiast who claimed to have broken the speed record between John O'Groats and Land's End has been cleared of dangerous driving.

Thomas Davies, 29, allegedly completed the 841-mile journey in September 2017 in nine hours and 36 minutes, at an average speed of 89mph.

Mr Davies, of Corwen, north Wales, was also cleared of two counts of perverting the course of justice.

He told his trial that what happened was an "exaggeration of real life".

Tommy Davies (right) was cleared of all charges at Truro Crown Court

Truro Crown Court heard Mr Davies wrote a blog about the journey for a website called Piston Heads and appeared on YouTube, in national newspapers and on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2.

Ryan Murray, prosecuting, said Mr Davies had an ambition to travel between John O'Groats and Land's End "quicker than anyone else had ever done before" and that he used "illegal methods" to achieve his ambition.

He said the average speed to complete the 841-mile journey, including a stop for fuel, was 89mph.

But Mr Davies told the jury: "I don't dispute a journey was made. I dispute the manner and the speed of the journey."

He said the prosecution's case was circumstantial and was "wedded" to the blog he had written being accurate - but he told the jury it was an exaggeration.

He said he accepted it was "obvious" that he had "done some stupid things", adding: "I am not the man that I was three years ago."

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