A dangerous motorcyclist was speeding on a busy Scunthorpe street before colliding with a car on a mini-roundabout, a court heard.
Recorder Richard Thyne KC told Yamaha rider, Ben Jones, he was lucky to be alive after crashing into the car and being thrown over the bonnet.
Jones, 20, of Abbott’s Road, Scunthorpe, admitted dangerous driving on Ashby high Street, on April 19, last year. Prosecuting at Grimsby Crown Court, Stephen Welch told how CCTV cameras captured the rider at high speed over a long distance and overtaking at dangerous times in the face of on-coming traffic.
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The barrister showed camera footage to the court and the dramatic moment a car came from the right on a mini-roundabout and was struck at speed by the Yamaha rider. Mr Welch said there was significant damage to the car and the rider was thrown over the bonnet on to the road way.
“He was fortunate not to suffer more serious or fatal injuries,” said Mr Welch. He said cameras had recorded the motorcyclist riding at speed from Ashby Broadway, then on Ashby Collum Lane and another camera on Ashby High Street. The footage showed members of the public rushing to give assistance after they saw the horrific impact.
The car had right of way entering the roundabout but was unable to avoid the collision due to the speed of the motorcycle. Mr Welch said it had been a deliberate decision of the rider not to stop at the mini-roundabout.
The speed was much higher than other traffic and he crossed another mini-roundabout at “very high speed” prior to the collision on another mini-roundabout, said Mr Welch. He added the dangerous driving was “prolonged and persistent.” But he said it could not be compared to a “police pursuit lasting half an hour.”
For Jones, Craig Lowe said: “It is not the worst type of dangerous driving we see. Thankfully there was no injury to the vehicle driver.
“The driving was only for a matter of seconds. It is far from the example of a police chase for half an hour, when people have to dive out of the way.”
He said his client had no previous convictions and has a good driving record. He added Mr Jones was remorseful and lacked maturity at the age of 19, when the offence was committed.
He said his client hoped to apologise face-to-face to the car driver, if an apology would be accepted. In the meantime, he apologised on his client’s behalf. He said Jones intended getting a bicycle in order to get to and from his work at an engineering firm.
Mr Lowe said the collision had left his client’s hand and wrist damaged and he needs to use a specially-adapted tool in order to carry out his duties at work. Sentencing Jones, Recorder Thyne KC said: “It was lucky that you did not receive a fatal injury that day.”
For the dangerous driving offence, he jailed Jones for 44 weeks but suspended it for 12 months. He was ordered to undergo 150 hours unpaid work and disqualified him from driving for 12 months with an extended retest.
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
