Robbie Wayne Jones, 18, was given a 12-month jail sentence yesterday at Dubbo Local Court.

His defence lawyer submitted that jail was not the only option, but Magistrate Howard Hamilton said that in his view, there was only one appropriate penalty.

Tough new penalties for drivers who lead police on high-speed chases were introduced earlier this year and are known as Skye’s Law.

Mr Hamilton referred to the addition to the crimes act yesterday while delivering the sentence.

It was introduced after the death of a child during a police pursuit in Sydney, he said.

“The introduction of this offence had a specific purpose - to reduce the number of deaths as a consequence of police pursuits,” he said.

In considering the sentence, the court was required to look at the maximum penalty - and for the first offence of this kind it was three years, Mr Hamilton said.

On July 31 Jones - who has never held a licence - led police on a chase through South Dubbo and Wheelers Lane.

Police estimated his speed reached 80km/h in residential areas and they terminated the pursuit when he drove on the wrong side of Wheelers Lane for 500 metres.

The level of potential danger was significant due to rain, the road’s width, driver inexperience and the protracted distance Jones drove on the wrong side of the road, Mr Hamilton said.

Yesterday Jones sat in the dock, handcuffed, while his defence lawyer said the convicted man understood why the court and the community took the incident so seriously.

He acknowledged he had panicked on the night, and had already spent six weeks in custody, she said.

“If your honour considers fulltime custody the only option, I would ask you to suspend that sentence,” she said.

For the police pursuit - not stopping and driving recklessly, Jones was sentenced to 12 months non-parole and a total term of 18 months, which started on July 31.

For the conviction of a never licensed person driving a vehicle on the road, he was fined $1000 and ordered to pay court costs.

Mr Hamilton disqualified him from driving until September 2015.

As Jones was led away, his family waved and said they would visit soon.

“I love yous,” he said.