Biker who rode at 150mph walks free

AN INEXPERIENCED biker who rode at 150mph in traffic on the A38 near Plymouth has admitted dangerous driving.

Oliver Marriott, 21, was due to face a retrial yesterday at Plymouth Crown Court after a previous jury could not reach a verdict.

But as the trial was due to start, Marriott, from Pillaton near Saltash, changed his pleas to guilty to charges of dangerous driving and driving while uninsured.

Prosecutor David Gittins said Marriott was licensed and insured only for bikes up to 125cc, but was riding a Kawasaki ZX636 with a 106bhp engine capable of 162mph.

He had bought the 2004 machine for £4,675 and had owned it for just a month.

At 2.29pm on December 20, 2008, he was riding eastbound on the A38 between Marsh Mills and Deep Lane when the roar of his engine alerted experienced police traffic officer MPC David Williams.

Mr Gittins said: “It was coming from behind and it was obvious from the noise that he was doing a terrific speed.”

MPC Williams was so shocked, he dropped the Lastec LTi 20-20 speed gun. But he picked it up and trained it on the speeding machine.

Mr Gittins said the traffic was “quite considerable”, and as Marriott, who was crouching low over the handlebars, came up behind a van, he straightened in the saddle and managed to avoid it.

MPC Williams, a traffic officer for 12 years, said it was the highest speed he had ever recorded.

Mr Gittins said: “The consequences if he had lost control were life-threatening to himself and other road users.”

Mathematical calculations based on the time taken to cover road markings put his speed at 148.6mph.

Mr Gittins said: “The defence at the first trial said the laser machine was not accurate, but it now accepts that it was; the Lastec was an important feature of this case.”

Deni Mathews, for Marriott, said he was a hardworking young man who commuted to Birmingham to work as a trainee mechanic, but would now lose his job.

He was in financial difficulties and the bike had since been written off.

Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Marriott his was one of the worst cases of its kind ever recorded in the West Country.

He told him: “You were only 19 at the time and had owned the bike for only a month; it was a busy road, you were very inexperienced, had not passed your test and were therefore uninsured.

“It was extremely dangerous, and it is a miracle neither you nor anyone else was seriously injured.”

Judge Gilbert said that if Marriott had still owned the bike, he would have confiscated it to help pay the £7,500 prosecution costs, which like Marriott’s defence costs, would now be borne by the taxpayer.

He jailed Marriott for 23 weeks but suspended the sentence for two years, with 12 months’ supervision by the Probation Service.

He also banned him from driving for two years, ordered him to take an extended test before getting his licence back, and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community work.

No evidence was offered on counts of speeding and driving while unlicensed.