'Madman' coach driver jailed over motorway road rage

Published on Wednesday 10 February 2010 21:55

THE driver of a National Express coach was jailed yesterday for driving "like a madman" while his passengers screamed and pleaded with him to stop.

Brian Larred, 53, embarked on a nightmare eight-mile drive into Scotland on his route from Manchester to Aberdeen. He played "cat and mouse" with a car towing a caravan, the driver of which he believed had failed to give way to him as he joined a motorway in Cumbria on 24 June, 2009.

Some of his 25 passengers were so frightened they called the police. When he was stopped near Lockerbie, one of the passengers – who has since been cautioned for common assault – punched him several times in the face for putting his children in danger.

Prosecutor Alan Lovett told Carlisle Crown Court yesterday that Larred overtook the car towing a caravan at 60mph, then pulled in front and dropped his speed to about 48mph, leading the caravan to overtake again.

He did this four times before the caravan pulled in front of him, forcing him on to the hard shoulder. Larred then undertook the caravan. "Passengers were clearly frightened and … children were crying," Mr Lovett said.

The journey – was captured on a DVD recorded by the coach's on-board camera, which was shown to the court. Judge Paul Batty QC said:

"This man was driving like a madman." He added it was "entirely understandable" that the passenger had hit him.

Larred, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, was jailed for a year after pleading guilty to dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years.

It was the second time he had appeared in court for road rage. In 1999 he drove off in a 16-tonne lorry, swerving from side to side as a 61-year-old man was driving alongside him.