A Western Telegraph reader told Swansea Crown Court that she was forced off the road by three cars racing each other at more than 60mph.

One of the drivers was Mark Edward Hooper, aged 22, of Stepney Terrace, Haverfordwest.

On Thursday he was sentenced for dangerous driving. But he was spared an immediate prison sentence.

Judge Christopher Morton told him that his driving deserved to be marked by a jail term.

He said Hooper and two other motorists were driving at high speeds and were in effect racing on a country road.

But after listening to mitigation - including details of injuries suffered by Hooper himself - Judge Morton suspended the sentence.

Hooper was jailed for 12 months, suspended for 18 months and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work for the community and banned from driving for three years.

After the ban is lifted, Hooper will not be able to drive until he has passed a particularly tough driving test.

Hooper was said to have been racing other cars along the B4341 Broad Haven to Haverfordwest road.

Moments before the crash, Dorothy Whitacombe, who was returning home to Broad Haven from Milford Haven's Torch Theatre, told the jury she was forced off the road as three cars approached at high speed.

They appeared to be racing each other at more than 60mph with no more than a few feet between each vehicle.

She avoided an accident only by pulling off the road to allow them to pass. She was so shocked, she said, she had to wait to compose herself before continuing her journey home.

Unknown to her, Hooper's car crashed just moments later.

But she read a press report in the Western Telegraph about the accident and contacted the police.