A TEENAGER who raced his mother’s Porsche at up to 160mph on country roads has failed in a bid to get his driving licence back.

Thomas Lees was banned for four years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving at Teesside Crown Court in October 2009.

He returned to court yesterday to try to have the disqualification period cut short as he had been offered work at a construction site.

Judge Peter Bowers refused to hand Lees his licence back – but reduced the ban and said he could apply to drive again in March.

Lees, now 21, of Neasham Court, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, will have to take an extended driving test before he can get back behind the wheel.

The judge told him: “Another factor is, I suspect, you will have great difficulty getting insurance – costs for cover will be astronomical.”

Lees was only 18 when lost control of his mother’s Porsche Carrera 4 on a bend on the A172 near Stokesley and crashed through a hedge.

The high-powered sports car rolled for 150 metres and ended up in a field. One of his two female passengers suffered serious injuries.

Lees was initially given a three-month prison sentence and banned from driving for four years by Judge Bowers.

The judge later altered the punishment to a four-month curfew and unpaid work, and suspended the custodial term for 18 months.

He said yesterday the civil engineering student would have served only a few weeks behind bars, and his crime deserved more than that.

Lees represented himself when he applied for his licence back, and told the judge that he was sorry for all the trouble he had caused.

He said he had been laid off from an engineering job in Billingham, but had been offered one at a site in Blackwell Grange, Darlington.

Lees told the judge he fitted the work around his university studies, but it was difficult when he had to rely on relatives for lifts.

He said his driving had been “pretty awful” and added: “It was reckless, caused so much pain and heartache. I can’t believe I did it.”

The judge said: “The speeds were quite horrific. Even on a motorway, that would be regarded as almost Formula One standard.”