A SPEEDING driver who claimed his dog sat on the accelerator during an 80mph police pursuit has failed to persuade judges to cut his jail sentence.

Jordan Winn blamed his excitable Staffordshire bull terrier Buster for the high speed chase, and tried to convince Court of Appeal judges that his 13-month sentence was too harsh.

However, judges threw out his appeal, describing the incident as a “serious episode of dangerous driving”.

In October 2013, police spotted the 23-year-old driving too fast in Whitehill Way, Chester-le-Street, and began to follow him.

But as Winn tried to escape through a built-up area, he hit speeds of 80mph and swerved in front of oncoming traffic, including a family with two children in the car.

Winn, who had served a six-month ban for careless driving, was eventually stopped in The Avenues and arrested. Winn pleaded guilty at Durham Crown Court, but offered the explanation that Buster must have sat on the accelerator and caused the Volvo to speed up as he struggled to remove it from the footwell.

Trial Judge Christopher Prince dismissed Winn’s account as “utterly ludicrous” and sentenced him to 13 months in prison.

Today Court of Appeal judges upheld the original sentence, despite his lawyers’ claim that it did not take account of his mitigation.

They argued that he had made a real effort to change his life after moving from South Shields to his new address in Murray Park Stanley.

They also said that he had a job and his girlfriend was expecting a child which was due next month.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: “Jordan Winn, having deliberately chosen to seek to avoid being stopped by the police, drove at grossly excessive speeds in a busy built-up residential area,” he said.

“It was only pure good fortune that he didn't cause serious injury or death to a driver of an oncoming vehicle. It was only their emergency action that prevented it.

“The resulting sentence of 13 months was neither manifestly excessive, nor wrong in principle, and accordingly this appeal fails.”