Five sentenced for 'reckless' breaching car cruising injunction

The five were recorded by a resident breaking several breaches of a High Court injunction banning car cruising in the Black Country – with one car driving on the wrong side of the road and performing spins while travelling in the wrong direction around a traffic island.

Three other vehicles were filmed parked side by side across the road, causing an obstruction. The offences took place on Springvale Avenue in Bilston on the evening of Saturday, March 17. The defendants were sentenced at the High Court in Birmingham yesterday(MON).

The court heard that bad weather on the night had left the road in a treacherous condition, meaning the car cruise, already unacceptable in good conditions, was 'positively reckless' in the circumstances.

Thomas Willis, aged 23, of Dark Lane, Featherstone, Callum Cunnane, 20, of Holly Lane, Erdington, James Pallett, 26, of Whinberry Rise, Brierley Hill, James Jones, 21, of Paxton Road, Stourbridge, and Wendy Riley, 22, of Bottle Kiln Rise, Brierley Hill, admitted breaching the injunction by taking part in the car cruise.

Willis, who performed the spins on the roundabout and whose behaviour was described as the most serious, was sentenced to 28 days in jail suspended for the life of the injunction.

Cunnane, Pallett and Jones were each fined £500, and all five defendants were ordered to pay £114 costs. A sixth defendant gave an undertaking to the court.

Judge McKenna said breaches of court orders had to be taken 'very seriously'. He added that the activity defined had become endemic and that those who took part were adding to what was a serious and increasing problem for local authorities in the Midlands.

The case was brought by Wolverhampton Council which, together with Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils and West Midlands Police, secured the ground-breaking injunction in 2015.

It bans people from taking part in a car cruise anywhere within those areas or from promoting, organising or publicising any such event.

Councillor Hazel Malcolm, cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, said: "This injunction has helped to dramatically reduce the menace of car cruising across the Black Country.

"We are continuing to take action against people suspected of breaching the High Court ban, and the sentences handed out in relation to this incident demonstrate that we remain committed to tackling the problem."

Councillor Val Gibson, cabinet member for governance, added: "The message is clear – if you take part in, organise or promote a car cruise in the Black Country, you will be in breach of the High Court injunction and could face severe consequences."

The injunction will be in place until at least January 2021.