Driver banned after 122mph haircut trip during lockdown

When Robert White was stopped by police he said he had been driving home from Wales after getting his hair cut

A man who was clocked speeding at 122mph (196km/h) and told police he was coming home from Wales after a haircut has been disqualified from driving.

Robert White, 30, from Taunton, was stopped by officers near Junction 23 of the M5 in Somerset on 17 March.

He had been driving under the influence of drugs and England was in a second national lockdown.

He had previously admitted the charges and was sentenced by Taunton Deane Magistrates to a 32-month driving ban.

He was also fined £120 by magistrates on Thursday and was ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

When he was stopped, he was given a fixed penalty notice for breaching Covid-19 regulations.

PC Owen Davies, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: "White's driving on that day was reckless in the extreme."

"If he'd been involved in a collision while driving at that speed, it would have resulted in catastrophic consequences.

"At the time of the offence, a second national lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 was in place in England, with people urged to stay at home - all this makes his actions even more reprehensible."