Banned motorbike rider in 140mph police chase (From Wirral Globe)

Banned motorbike rider in 140mph police chase

10:02am Monday 26th September 2011 in News

A DISQUALIFIED motorcyclist raced away from police at 140mph - forcing an ambulance to swerve out of his way.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 26-year-old Wesley Tierney undertook vehicles on the M53, weaved in and out of traffic and drove on the wrong side of the road.

A chasing traffic officer clocked his speed as reaching 140mph and watched as an ambulance coming from Arrowe Park Hospital had to swing out of his way.

Judge David Boulton told Tierney: “You don't need me to tell you that if a motorcycle driven at 140mph accidentally touches anything the rider dies.

“That would be your problem and very few people would have any sympathy.

"The problem is if a motorcycle touches anything else at 140mph the risk somebody else would die is very high.

“You, by this appalling piece of driving, put the lives of other people at risk.”

But the judge decided to suspend the sentence after saying the maximum he could effectively impose following Tierney’s early guilty plea to dangerous driving would be 12 months.

“One knows that from reading the newspapers and listening to the radio and television that because the prisons are bursting at the seams you would probably come out after three months.

“You would come out without any intervention in your life and that is the main reason I am going to suspend this sentence.”

He suspended the 12-month sentence for two years with 18 months supervision and subjected him to a three-month, electronically-monitored curfew.

Judge Boulton also banned Tierney, of Vicarage Grove, Wallasey, from driving for three years.

Robert Jones, prosecuting, told how an experienced traffic officer followed Tierney after spotting him speeding on his high-powered Kawasaki bike near junction 5 on the M53.

He followed as Tierney sped away, reaching 140mph near junction 4, before crossing the slip round at junction 3 and coming off.

On Woodchurch Road he veered on to the wrong side of the road - forcing an approaching ambulance to swerve out the way - before escaping from the officer.

But Tierney was eventually traced and despite initially denying he was the rider later made a full confession.

He admitted he had sped away from police because he was banned and had no insurance.

Neil Gunn, defending, told how Tierney, a television salesman, and father-of-two, had put himself in danger by his driving.