Teenager put drivers in terror on M1

The man warned: “You had better hurry up or he is going to kill somebody”.

David Mackay prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday the driver complained about was teenager Patrick Sweeney who had taken his mother’s Ford Focus without consent in Nottinghamshire after he had been drinking.

There were other complaints about his cutting in front of vehicles and then slowing down or suddenly stopping, then repeating the manoeuvre when the vehicles desperately pulled out round him.

Near the junction with the M62 he followed another car which was doing 100mph and his driving only ended when he collided with a caravan.

Fortunately the family involved were not injured and were able to continue to Scotland. Sweeney was found to have 66 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35.

Sweeney, 18, of Danbas Close, Bulwell, Nottinghamshire was sent to a young offender institution for 12 months and disqualified from driving for two years after he admitted dangerous driving, taking without consent, driving while over the prescribed limit, and having no licence or insurance.