A motorbike rider was caught speeding along a motorway at 140mph - double the top national speed limit.
Blair Younger claimed his fiancee was 12 weeks pregnant and was experiencing stomach cramps.
The divorced dad of two told Exeter magistrates that he was racing back home on his Triumph bike after getting a call from her because she had lost another baby at 20 weeks.
"This is why I was rushing home," said the 30 year old heating engineer.
But an unmarked police car spotted him on the M5 at Exeter, Devon, one afternoon in March and saw it was travelling at a 'very excessive speed'.
The police car had to reach speeds of 145mph with its blue lights flashing to get Younger to stop.
The defendant told police at the scene:"I am bang to rights'.
Younger, from Elm Grove Road, Topsham near Exeter, Devon, told the court:"The police officer who caught me gave me old fashioned talking to. I promised I would not ride the bike again and it is off the road and being advertised for sale.
"I realise the stupidity of rushing home was no excuse."
He said he had put his life in danger and his unborn child could have entered the world without a father.
Younger said his company would not be able to survive if he was banned from driving.
Younger admitted speeding and the court heard he already had six points on his licence - three of them for speeding.
Chairman of the bench Brian Balsdon told him:"This is the fastest speed we have had to deal with for a long, long time and that has to be reflected in our sentence."
He said the guideline sentence went off the scale for this speed.
He was given six penalty points and banned from driving for six months under the totting up procedure. He was also ordered to pay a total of £313 in fines and costs.
* In the same court a 97 year old woman was charged with driving a Nissan car in Exmouth, Devon, without due care and attention.
But the case was withdrawn after the magistrates were told Myra Mills, of Exmouth, had revoked her driving licence and would not get back behind the wheel of a car.
↧
