A LEADING cancer expert who treated himself to a Ferrari has been banned from driving for six months after a series of motoring raps.

Dr Gary Acton is Cancer Research UK's senior medical advisor.

But after the 65 year old “treated” himself to the powerful red sports car with its distinctive 999G registration plate, it has landed him in trouble.

A court heard that the £80,000 a year doctor had already amassed 11 points for speeding offences in October and November 2022 and October 2023.

At Exeter magistrates court Acton admitted speeding in June 2023 on the A30 near Tedburn St Mary when an unmarked police car clocked him doing 110mph - and at times in that incident had been driving faster than that on the 70mph dual carriageway.

The officer also spotted his registration plates did not comply with the rules.

But Acton was back in trouble last October when he knocked a motorcyclist off his 125cc machine as the medic overtook a bus on a straight road at Winkleigh.

The rider suffered various injuries when he was thrown into the air after the red Ferrari struck him as he tried to make a right turn - but the court heard his bike did not have any indicator lights on it.

Miss Lisa Denley, defending, said Acton had “worked incredibly hard” and treated himself to the car.

She said he has a significant role in clinical trials for cancer drugs and drives around the country to speak to doctors, as well as making trips to Europe.

He said he drives from his remote home in Devon at 4am to meet doctors at 7am in various hospitals around the country.

Acton, of  Beaford, near Winkleigh, admitted careless driving, speeding and the registration plate offence and claimed exceptional hardship if he was banned from the roads.

The Exeter JPs rejected the hardship claim and he was sentenced to a six month driving ban and ordered to pay a total of £1,871 in fines and costs.