Suzuki Bandit rider spotted going over Humber Bridge on wrong side of road before ‘outrageous’ incident
A teenager biker who was first spotted as he rode over the Humber Bridge on the wrong side of the road then led police on an ‘outrageous’ 30-mile chase at speeds over 100mph on the A180 before crashing.
The rider of the Suzuki Bandit 600 did not have a licence for riding the high-powered motorcycle and was not insured when he took the keys from his father “out of boredom.”
Ethan Campling-Gregory, 18, of Finkle Lane, Barton admitted dangerous driving at 4.25am on August 6, this year.
Prosecuting at Grimsby Crown Court, Fintan Molloy told how Humberside Police[1] traffic officer, PC Darren Sharpe spotted the motorcycle on the Humber Bridge[2], riding on the wrong side of the carriageway.
The Suzuki did not have a rear registration plate, nor a rear light.
The officer trailed the motorcycle as it went the wrong way on the northbound carriageway. The rider did a U-turn and went back towards the toll booths and went through the tag lane and on to the southbound carriageway.
Mr Molloy said the police officer went in pursuit and had to travel at 130mph to catch up with the motorcycle on the A15. The Suzuki was driven into Barton from Ferriby Road and travelled along George Street into Marsh Lane and then Butt Lane.
The officer clocked the speed at 45mph. It then went the wrong way around a roundabout onto Ferriby Road and back onto the A15 where his speed went up to 108mph.
The prosecutor said the officer switched off the police car’s blue lights and backed off in the pursuit for fear of risking a collision with other vehicles on the road. PC Sharpe caught up with the Suzuki on the A180 and saw the rider weaving between HGVs. As the rider attempted to overtake a lorry, he came behind a car which was also overtaking the lorry. The officer saw the rider accelerate between the lorry and the overtaking car in a dangerous undertake move, to get past the car.
The rider was then seen emptying items from his pockets as he sped towards the Immingham interchange.
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When the rider turned off towards the town, the officer successfully attempted a tactical pursuit and containment move which ended with the Suzuki clipping a kerb and crashing. The rider got off and fled down an embankment.
PC Sharpe went in pursuit on foot and noticed the rider stripping off as he ran off down an embankment and up the other side into a field.
Eventually the officer caught the rider and arrested him. When he was taken to Birchin Way police station, the defendant made no comment in interview.
In court, Judge Graham Robinson heatedly said the rider had shown “no social responsibility whatsoever during an horrific pursuit in the early hours of the morning.”
Turning to the defendant’s relatives in court, the judge said: “When you don’t behave like a sensible member of society you go to prison. Your relatives must be utterly ashamed. It is not their fault.”
For Campling-Gregory, Hannah Turner said her client had spent the evening playing video games and went to find the key to the Suzuki which his father had taken from him.
“He was bored and went to drive the bike,” told Miss Turner.
Judge Robinson said: “Someone stupid enough to ride at 108mph puts other people’s lives at risk. Outrageous!”
Miss Turner told how her client had a difficult start to life when his parents split up and their son went to live with his father when the mother left the area.
She said he hoped to study maths at university but was at “a delicate stage of his development.” Judge Robinson said Miss Turner had done “a tremendous job representing the thoroughly undeserving defendant.”
He said: “Youngsters plus extremely powerful motorcycles equals danger. You don’t seem to care. You were late for a probation appointment and forgot to turn up for the next appointment. Even more astonishingly they have given you the chance of a pre-sentence report while at court today.
“Miss Turner has done a tremendous amount of work, way above and beyond the call of duty. But for Miss Turner you would be going through that door to custody.”
The Judge added: “What gives you the right to travel at 108mph is utterly beyond me. When they asked you what you were doing you did not answer. There was a prolonged pursuit to evade police, at high speed and will in excess of the permitted limit on the roads. How serious injury or damage was not caused is a matter of pure luck. Happily there were no consequences.”
He imposed a 24-week sentence in a Young Offender Institution, suspended for 12 months. He ordered the rider to do 240 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days supervised by the probation service. He said the motorcycle should be forfeited and sold for funds to help others. Campling-Gregory was banned from riding for two years and must take an extended retest. The judge also ordered £150 in prosecution costs.
References
- ^ Humberside Police (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Humber Bridge (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Keep up to date with all the latest crime and court news from Hull with our free newsletter (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)