Man who boasted of record-breaking journey from John O'Groats to Land's End is cleared of dangerous driving

29-year-old car enthusiast Thomas Davies who has been cleared of dangerous driving. Credit: ITV West Country

A car enthusiast accused of dangerous driving after claims he had driven from John O'Groats to Land's End in record time has been cleared of all charges at Truro Crown Court. 

Thomas Davies had posted a video online boasting of his record-breaking journey but he told the court that it was not an accurate version of what had happened. He said it had been a 'stupid thing to do'.

It would normally take around 15 hours to drive from John O'Groats to Lands End. Credit: Bing

Mr Davies, who is 29 and from Corwen in North Wales, had claimed he did the 837 mile journey in 9 hours and 36 minutes - a trip that would normally take 15 hours.

The record was held by Neal Champion who did the 'End-to-end' trip on his motorbike in 11 hours and 14 minutes in 1984.

Thomas Davies appeared in the national newspapers and on television after seemingly completing the feat in September 2017.

At the time, Mr Davies said his Audi S5 was equipped with improved brakes and an engine performance chip boosting the vehicle’s power to 400bhp. 

In this extract from a video on YouTube, he describes some of his methods.

"What's really special about it is the modifications on it that allow it to travel for over 400 miles without stopping.

"We've got a fuel tank in the boot that gives us an additional 80 litres of fuel.

"And then we've got a few countermeasures here that allow us to make sure we know where our friends in uniforms are and any speed cameras and any sort of traps ahead of us."

But Mr Davies told the court that the car did not actually have the modifications at the time. He said he had made an elaborated blog post that 'snowballed out of control'.

The publicity led police to investigate the claims.

The jury at Truro Crown Court found Mr Davies not guilty of two counts of dangerous driving and two of perverting the course of justice. Credit: ITV West Country

The prosecution alleged that Mr Davies must have been speeding but the court heard that none of the 105 speed cameras along the route had been triggered.

Mr Davies said, "I don't dispute the journey was made. I dispute the manner and the speed in which it was made.

"I did write that story and as the writer of the story I put myself in the lead role."

The jury at Truro Crown Court found Mr Davies not guilty of two charges of dangerous driving and two charges of perverting the course of justice.