Sur-Ron rider jailed after throwing e-bike off bridge to evade police
Police helicopter footage and a roadside stinger helped bring an end to a bizarre Sur-Ron pursuit in Newport.
A disqualified Sur-Ron rider who threw his bike from a bridge into the River Usk as police officers closed in has been jailed for 12 months following a pursuit through Newport.
Owen Pendree, 32 (below), was filmed riding dangerously through the city on June 30 before being intercepted by roads policing officers with support from the National Police Air Service helicopter unit. Video footage captured the rider performing wheelies and riding in a manner police described as dangerous on Corporation Road in Newport.
Working alongside the helicopter crew, Gwent Police officers deployed a stinger before bringing the pursuit to an end on Newport's Town Bridge near Clarence Place. It was there, according to police, that Pendree threw the Sur-Ron from the bridge and into the River Usk in an apparent attempt to dispose of the machine before he was arrested.
Pendree later appeared before Newport Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and using a motor vehicle without insurance. Alongside the 12-month prison sentence, he was banned from driving for three and a half years and will be required to pass an extended driving test before getting back behind the wheel.
The case is the latest example of police forces taking a harder line on illegally used electric motorcycles and high-powered e-bikes, particularly Sur-Ron machines that are frequently ridden on public roads without registration, insurance or the correct licence entitlement. While many are sold for off-road use only, once modified or used on public highways they fall under the same legal requirements as motorcycles.
According to Gwent Police, video evidence gathered during the incident left Pendree with little room for manoeuvre in court, with officers welcoming a sentence they say sends a clear message to riders who use such machines irresponsibly on public roads.
Throwing the bike in the river may have made for a dramatic ending to the pursuit, but it did little to change the outcome. The Sur-Ron ended up at the bottom of the Usk, and its rider ended up behind bars.
Find the latest motorcycle news on Visordown
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
