Ferrari salesman Nicholas Burke jammed speed camera with laser device

And as Nicholas Burke, 45, started his sentence, North Yorkshire Police warned Judge Simon Hickey at York Crown Court more and more people are trying to avoid speeding convictions by using jamming devices.

Traffic constable Andy Forth told drivers: “If you use one of these devices in North Yorkshire there is a very strong chance you’ll be caught.”

He led the investigation that started when Burke drove along Greengales Lane between Wheldrake and Elvington in February. Police suspected he was breaking the 60mph speed limit but were unable to measure his speed with their speed camera.

Instead, Burke’s laser device set off an alarm on their equipment that a jammer was operating. As a result they seized his company-owned BMW 335D and found his “Laser Elite”.

He told them he had it fitted because he was worried about getting points on his licence.

Burke, of The Green, Stillingfleet south of York, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was jailed for two months. He has resigned his job at a Ferrari dealership in Leeds.

A police community impact statement to the court said: “We have detected an increasing number of vehicles fitted with laser jamming devices which are designed to interfere with police speed measurement equipment.

“Safety camera operators are fully-trained to detect the use of these types of devices, and are therefore able to identify a vehicle they suspect may be fitted with such a device.”

It also said North Yorkshire has historically had a high number of road collisions leading to death or life changing injuries.

TC Forth said: “As Burke’s prison sentence shows, the courts take a very dim view of people who use jammer devices to pervert the course of justice.

"To use such devices to interfere with speed enforcement - one of the main four causes of fatal and serious-injury collisions - increases the risk to everyone else who uses the county’s roads, and the communities they represent.”