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Ban for speeding biker
SPEEDER: Gary Dobson caught speeding at 144mph
A MOMENTARY burst of speed to test how fast his new motorbike could go landed a self-employed businessman with a six-month ban when he appeared at Selby Magistrates’ Court last Thursday.
Gary Dobson, 40, from Halifax, was seen by police doing 144mph on the A63 in South Milford on his BMW RR 1000 motorcycle on October 7 – the highest speed ever recorded for a motorbike travelling on a North Yorkshire road.
Dobson, who had pleaded guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing, was back before the court for sentencing.
Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, said Dobson was caught by a police speed camera van on the A63 dual carriageway near South Milford Hotel just after 8.30am. Officers noticed a motorbike heading towards Fairburn well in excess of 70mph. At the time the weather was fine and road surface dry and traffic flow light.
Dobson stopped his bike and pulled off the road to speak to another motorcyclist before they rode off together. The officer decided to follow the bikers and at 8.50am went into Squires Cafe and spoke to Dobson and told him he had been speeding at more than twice the legal limit for that stretch of road.
Priscilla Addo-Quaye, mitigating, said she accepted the prosecution’s version of events, and said it was a clear stretch of road, there were no other vehicles apart from another motorcyclist, it was dry, clear visibility, and there were no pedestrians around as it was on a dual carriageway.
It was a spontaneous decision and Dobson only went at 144mph for a fraction of a second. Shortly after this he came to a complete stop.
She said there was little evidence of bad driving apart from her client’s speed.
She added that her client was of previous good character, he owned his own business, and he was dependant on his licence so he could transport his tools in his vehicle, and, as a single parent of six and nine-year-old sons, when he had access to his children 133 days each year, he would not be able to take them on trips if his licence was taken away.
Bench chairman Ian Franks said Dobson was riding at more than twice the legal limit. He was fined £500 with a £50 victim surcharge, ordered to pay £45 costs and disqualified from driving for six months.
After the case had been heard the traffic constable who had recorded Dobson’s excessive speeding, TC Andrew Forth, said: “Hopefully the penalty given to Mr Dobson will send a strong message to other road users. I ask road users to obey speed limits on the road and obey the law.”
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Weather for Selby
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 15 C
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