Motorcyclist jailed after doing ‘beyond 180mph’

A MOTORCYCLIST who sped at ‘beyond 180mph’ and repeatedly used a false plate to evade capture has been jailed for 30 months.

Gym owner Paul Whyatt, of Thorney, Cambridgeshire, rode faster than a police car that was doing 148mph, with a number plate on his BMW S1000RR registered to a car in Hampshire.

A judge said of the of the incident, on the A1M southbound from Sawtry to Huntingdon on April 9 2015: “Police were doing 148mph but the bike was speeding away from them. You’re aware your motorbike goes beyond 180mph - I believe you were doing the top speed.”

In a separate incident on April 22 2015, Whyatt undertook officers on an emergency call on the A15 Paston Parkway near Peterborough before turning onto the A47 torwards Thorney and speeding off at over 100mph.

Police dash cam footage of both incidents shows Whyatt waving to officers on the A1M before literally disappearing over the horizon.

In the second incident he doubled the speed limit in Thorney, doing over 60mph, passed queuing cars on the B1167 Wisbech Road and then sped off towards Holbeach.

This time Whyatt was using his own number plate, which led police to his home on Wisbech Road.

Whyatt told officers an acquaintance at the gym he owns was doing a test ride with a view to buying the bike, Peterborough Crown Court heard.

But his story unravelled when police found no gym records of the acquaintance and CCTV showed Whyatt wearing the same distinctive clothing worn by the speeding rider.

Whyatt also attended a police interview carrying a distinctive rucksack worn by the rider, which officers found to contain a sheath knife.

He was charged with a second count of perverting the course of justice over an incident in August 2013 in which he was clocked by a speed camera at 47mph in 30mph zone in Thorney and later gave a false name for the rider.

He also used a false number plate in another incident in which he crossed a solid white line to overtake an off-duty police officer.

The court heard he had previously been convicted of dangerous driving and driving without insurance following a police chase in 1999 on the Isle of Man which ended when he crashed into a back garden.

Judge Gareth Hawkesworth criticised his “arrogance and stupidity”, adding: “You provided bizarre and fanciful evidence to justify what the jury found to be an essential lie because you indeed were the driver on each occasion.

“Your driving was unlawful - you did everything you could to escape responsibility for that driving.

“It was quite clear you provided false details to avoid the risk of disqualification. This was a considered decision by you. You sent police on a wild goose chase.”

Edward Barr, defending, said Whyatt’s speeding had presented “no clear and present dangers” to others, adding there was no evidence he intended to use the knife and that he had “built up a business and been a dutiful father”.

Whyatt was found guilty by jury of two counts of dangerous driving and two of perverting the course of justice, having previously pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article.

Judge Hawkesworth criticised him for not pleading guilty to carrying the knife sooner, adding: "It was only when your lies about that were discovered that you pleaded guilty.”

Whyatt was sentenced on March 9 to 14 months for perverting the course of justice, another 14 for dangerous driving and two for carrying the knife.

He received a Criminal Behaviour Order for four years and three months, banning him from riding a bike over 50cc, and was disqualified from driving for three years, three months.

He also has to pay a victim surcharge.

PC Stuart Adam of Cambridgeshire's Road Policing Unit said: "The fact that Whyatt has received a lengthy custodial sentence for offences that didn't result in injury or death demonstrates just how serious the courts take driving in this manner on our county's roads.

"Whyatt's motorbike had a top speed of 180mph and it's clear from the video footage that on occasions he was reaching very high speeds."