A FERRARI salesman jailed for jamming a police speed camera with a laser device has won back his freedom after a week in jail.

Nicholas Burke, 46, was jailed on April 4 for two months for perverting the course of justice.

York Crown Court heard police suspected he was breaking the 60 mph speed limit when they spotted him driving between Wheldrake and Elvington in February.

But they were unable to measure the speed of his BMW company car because it had a "Laser Elite" device which prevented their speed camera working properly.

Burke, of The Green, Stillingfleet, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and appealed against his sentence to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division.

At the time of his offence, he was working for a Ferrari dealership in Leeds.

On April 11, the appeal court changed his sentence to two months suspended for two years and he was released from jail.

His solicitor Lucy Whittaker said: “I am delighted with the decision of the court but it should be remembered that Mr Burke spent seven nights in prison and lost his job as a result of this offence.

"Anyone thinking of using one of these devices should be in no doubt that the courts take these matters extremely seriously.”

She said the court changed the sentence because Burke had no previous convictions, he had co-operated with the police following his arrest and he had pleaded guilty immediately.

Burke is the latest in a series of drivers convicted of perverting the course of justice in North Yorkshire by trying to stop police recording their speed.

A North Yorkshire Police community impact statement sent to York Crown Court for Burke's case 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.”