Police officer Raymond Lees has won an appeal against his sentence for careless driving.

Pc Lees hit a car at Marcham, near Abingdon, while on his way to a burglary.

Lees was fined £100 after pleading guilty and had his licence endorsed with four penalty points by Didcot magistrates.

But yesterday at Oxford Crown Court he won his appeal and had the points rubbed off. The fine stood.

Magistrates had heard Lees was driving an unmarked car as he approached a crossroads at Gozzards Ford, Marcham, last October with a blue flashing light in the front windscreen.

He overshot the junction and collided with a Peugeot driven by David Tofts. Lees estimated his speed at 15mph.

Judge Anthony King, sitting with two magistrates yesterday, said they noted Lees was responding to a call but added he had made a "plain error of judge- ment".

The court was told Lees was a competent driver who admitted he made a mistake.

Previous news story

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.