Worthing man guilty of dangerous driving following Shoreham road-rage

Last month, Mark Bennett, 37, of Brighton Road, Worthing, was found guilty of dangerous driving following a four-day trial at Brighton Crown Court.

Yesterday (Thursday, February 7), he was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

He was also sentenced to a three-month curfew order between 9pm and 5am, 150 hours’ unpaid work, disqualified from driving for 18 months and required to take an extended driving test. He was ordered to pay £3,500 in court costs.

At around 6.45pm on June 2, 2012, roads policing officers attended the scene of a reported road rage incident on the eastbound carriageway of the A27 Shoreham flyover.

On arrival, officers found a silver Vauxhall Corsa which had sustained damage as a result of the incident. The victim told officers that a road rage incident had taken place, starting from the Lancing Manor roundabout and continuing east to just after the A283 junction.

The incident resulted in Bennett overtaking the victim’s vehicle, a Vauxhall Corsa, and braking directly in front of him causing the victim to lose control and collide with Bennett.

PC Pete Blake of Sussex Police’s Roads Policing Unit said: “The collision was caused by the aggressive and dangerous driving of the defendant Bennett. It was lucky that no-one was seriously injured or killed as a result of these actions.

“I hope the result of this court case sends out a clear message that driving in such a manner will not be tolerated on the roads of Sussex.”