Drivers spotted racing flouting Black Country car cruising ban

Jordan Evans, aged 23, and Jack Buchanan, 21, were among a group of people speeding two-abreast along a Black Country road notorious for car-cruising.

A resident reported hearing loud engine noises and witnessed a number of vehicles racing side-by-side along Springvale Avenue, Bilston, for about 15 minutes.

The pair admitted taking part in the car cruise in the early hours of Sunday, March 10, last year, in contravention of an injunction granted by the High Court in 2014 banning people from taking part in car cruises anywhere in Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell or Walsall, or from promoting or organising such an event.

Evans and Buchanan had previously denied the charge but changed their pleas when the case came to the High Court in Birmingham.

Judge McKenna, sitting as a High Court judge, said: "Car cruising is a serious problem for a number of local authorities in the Midlands, and the seriousness of the conduct alleged against the two respondents should not be underestimated.

"In each case I bear in mind it is a first breach, and I am satisfied that there will be no repetition of the behaviour."

Evans, of Lakeside Close, Willenhall, was fined £1,000 and Buchanan, of Harthill Road, Wolverhampton, fined £1,250. Both were ordered to pay costs of £2,000 each. An application to commit a third defendant was dismissed.

Springvale Avenue is a known hotspot for car cruising, with five people pleading guilty in November to taking part in a cruise at the same spot the following week, on March17, in an incident reported to police by the same witness. They received sentences ranging from a suspended jail sentence to fines, while all five were ordered to pay costs.

Both cases were brought by Wolverhampton Council which, together with Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils and West Midlands Police, secured the injunction which came into force in February 2015.

Councillor Hazel Malcolm, cabinet member for public health, said: "Street racing is completely unacceptable and, once again, the authorities have demonstrated a zero tolerance to car cruising.

“The activities are not only illegal but also dangerous, putting the safety of participants and spectators at risk. It is also anti-social, generating late-night noise nuisance and disturbances for people living near to car cruising hotspots."

Almost 40 people have now been found to be in breach of the injunction, receiving sentences ranging from three months imprisonment to suspended jail sentences and fines of up to £2,000, as well as being ordered to pay costs. People who breach the injunction also face having assets, such as vehicles, seized and crushed, warn the council.