Teen sentenced for dangerous driving and evading police in Bath

A teenager who drove the wrong way around a gyratory in Bath and sped off as police tried to stop him was sentenced at the city’s magistrates’ court last week.

At a court appearance in March, Osric Leigh had admitted driving dangerously on Pines Way in the early hours of 19th October 2025 and failing to stop when required to do so by the police. He also admitted to driving with no insurance.

Magistrates had adjourned the case for the Probation Service to prepare a pre-sentence report and Leigh, from Westfield near Bath, was back in court for sentencing last Wednesday, 29th April.

Solicitor Bradley Axam, representing the 19-year-old trainee carpenter, said Leigh had been to the beach with friends and had taken steps to get insurance cover for the vehicle which belonged to a friend. However, the cover had expired by the time of the incident.

Police had pulled up behind him, and he’d made the mistake of going the wrong way round the one-way system and sped off when the police put their blue lights on.

The police did not pursue Leigh for long, and when he pulled up to see if they were still following him, they weren’t.

Leigh is neurodivergent and had acted on impulse, rather than considering the implications, and had been influenced by the people he was with, said Mr Axam.

There were no other cars on the road at the time, so there had been a “very limited risk” to other road users.

When Leigh’s friend received notification from the police about the offence, Leigh had admitted he had been the one driving, said Mr Axam. He added that Leigh is “remorseful”.

Magistrates disqualified Leigh from driving for six months beginning from the interim ban which was imposed at the 4th March court hearing.

They gave him a 12-month community order, under which he must complete 80 hours of unpaid work and up to 15 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days.

Leigh was also fined £40 and ordered to pay a court surcharge of £114. Magistrates made no order for prosecution costs due to his lack of means. There was no separate penalty for having no insurance.