Jailed officer bailed to appeal

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A police traffic officer who crashed at 115mph in heavy rain on a motorway has been freed on bail from a five-month jail sentence for dangerous driving.

Cardiff Crown Court had heard South Wales Police Sergeant Craig Bannister, 30, had been a 'speeding missile' when he skidded off the M4 in January 2008.

At the Court of Appeal in London, a judge allowed him to challenge both his conviction and his prison term.

Bannister, of Briton Ferry, near Swansea, was jailed on 18 March.

Mr Justice Holroyde said granting him bail was an "exceptional" course, but he said the officer could be returned to jail if his appeal was unsuccessful.

However, the judge said it was unlikely that a full appeal hearing could take place until the end of this month, or even until May, due to the Easter holiday.

He said that by that time, Bannister may have already been released.

Black box

Mr Justice Holroyde heard that Bannister's expected release date, after serving half his sentence, was 26 May.

However, he would be eligible for home detention on electronic tagging on 22 April.

By the time a hearing date could be set Bannister would "be well on the way to having served the effective part of the sentence" and "may even have been released by then".

The judge said he had received a fax from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) indicating that a bail application would not be opposed.

Cardiff Crown Court last month heard Bannister had qualified as an advanced police driver a month before the accident on the M4 near Swansea.

A black box recorder recovered from the car showed he had been driving at 122mph before slowing to 115mph just before he hit water and lost control of his BMW 5 series car and landed in trees.

The jury heard he had received an emergency call minutes earlier but he had been "stood down".

Blue lights

At his trial, Bannister, who earned £35,000 a year as a traffic officer, was described as being of previous "exemplary" character and had earned commendations for his work.

He admitted the crash was his fault but denied driving dangerously despite the heavy rain and spray, claiming he was trying to find a safe place to turn off his blue lights after being stood down.

Mr Justice Holroyde ruled that the grounds raised in both Bannister's forthcoming appeals against conviction and sentence were "arguable" and that he should have the opportunity to make submissions to the full court.

He said: "An important part of the appellant's defence was that his training and experience as an advanced police driver was a factor to be taken into account in his favour in assessing whether he had driven dangerously."

At the full appeal, a complaint will be made about the trial judge's directions to the jury on this issue.

Bannister was suspended from duty with immediate effect after the court verdict last month. The force has opened a misconduct inquiry.