No referral for teen’s sentence under unduly lenient scheme

Thomas Hilton goaded officers about their driving skills when they eventually found him hiding in some woods in Accrington.

Hilton, now 19, attempted to break into a house on Bold Venture Way in Clayton-le-Moors on the evening of February 12.

Preston Crown Court heard Hilton, who was accompanied by two other people, first tried the handle of a car parked in the driveway before then trying the handle of the front door of the property.

When he had no success he and his pals walked away.

The occupant of the house was asleep at the time but was alerted by a notification sent to his phone from his CCTV monitoring system.

He managed to get a description of Hilton and called the police.

Prosecuting, David Clarke said not long after, Hilton entered Spring Meadows, also in Clayton-le-Moors, not far from the first property.

He said: “The occupants of a house had let their dog out and when they brought it back in the dog was barking.

“They thought it strange so one of the occupants looked out of the window and could see his car had been taken.

“CCTV showed the car being driven away. The occupant’s wife said she normally kept the keys on the windowsill in the porch but they had gone.”

The court heard police were called and were given the number plate of the stolen vehicle.

At around 10.40pm the car was spotted driving at speed through Rishton and was followed by officers, who turned on their blue lights and indicated for it to stop.

However, instead of pulling over, Hilton, continued to speed away from officers in the car and reached speeds of more than 70mph in 50mph and 30mph zones.

Mr Clarke continued: “He drove through Great Harwood and then cut a blind corner and just missed another driver at a roundabout.

“He then drove at excess speeds down Whalley Road and went down a no entry street, driving the wrong way.

“He then went through a red traffic light and narrowly missed a pedestrian who was crossing the road.

“He continued on to Accrington and the police decided to abandon the chase due to concern for other members of the public.”

Hilton, of Cliff Street, Rishton was jailed for 14 months, disqualified from driving for 25 months and must sit an extended re-test if he wants his licence back.

Last month, a member of the public referred Hilton’s sentence to the Attorney General’s Office under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, where it was due to be reviewed before consideration given to whether there were grounds to refer the case to the Court of Appeal for being unduly lenient.

However, after consideration, it was found the offence was not part of the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme and will therefore not be referred.

If it had been part of the scheme and was referred, judges at the top court in the land would have heard the case and then made a judgment; either agreeing his sentence was unduly lenient, extending/changing the sentence, disagreeing and leaving the sentence the same, or they may even have refused to hear the case at all.