Driver who moved road sign jailed

Hopwood was caught speeding twice in two days

A driver who moved a 40mph road sign to a 30mph zone to try to dodge a speeding ticket has been ordered to spend his weekends behind bars.

John Hopwood, 44, of Bean Leach Road in Hazel Grove, Stockport, had admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice at Manchester Crown Court.

Hopwood moved the sign 10 miles to a road in Rochdale after he was caught by a speed camera twice in two days.

He was given an intermittent custodial sentence of 56 days.

He was also told to pay £2,763 in legal costs.

Facial mapping experts were called in to check the photo

This means he will report to a custody centre on Fridays and stay there until 1700 BST on Sundays.

On 4 April, Hopwood was caught travelling at 48mph in a 40mph zone on Princess Road, Manchester.

The next day he was caught driving at 41mph in a 30mph zone on Albert Royd Street, Rochdale.

He had moved the sign from Manchester and fixed it to a lamppost near where he was caught in Rochdale.

'Serious offence'

He had then taken a photograph of it, in an attempt to show prosecutors he was barely over the speed limit.

But he was caught out when lawyers drafted in a facial mapping expert to study marks on the signs.

Judge Anthony Ensor told him he had committed a "serious offence".

He said: "This was a stupid act bound to fail.

"You refused to accept your crime when questioned by police, even when expert evidence was put to you at two interviews."

He added: "Motorists using the road in Rochdale, which I believe has been the scene of serious accidents in the past, would have been misled into believing it was a 40mph area when, for obvious reasons of road safety, it is 30mph."