Biker clocked riding at 122mph awaits his fate over web of lies

A MOTORCYCLIST who went on an internet forum asking for advice about how to avoid a 122mph speeding conviction will be sentenced for perverting the course of justice.

By The Newsroom Saturday, 4th May 2013, 1:01 am

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MOT tester Andrew John Kelly lied to police officers and told them someone else was at the wheel of his Honda bike after being caught by a mobile safety camera on the A63 near Selby last June.

The 37-year-old, from Pudsey, Leeds, is said to have tried to manipulate the law to avoid penalty points before being forced to admit his guilt.

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He eventually pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to the speeding charge as well as two counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to speeding and an unrelated parking fine.

Kelly’s motorbike, a Honda CBR1000RR, also known as a Fireblade, was registered to his business rather than to an individual.

He failed to respond to notices of intended prosecution in the hope he could avoid naming himself as the rider at the time of the offence.

After going onto an internet forum seeking advice on how to avoid prosecution and get around responding to his notice of intended prosecution, he wrote that he planned to lie about the rider of the bike.

He also boasted on the forum about how he had got away with not paying a parking fine by submitting a fake invoice, an admission that resulted in him being charged with perverting the course of justice.

Police say his attitude on the forum resulted in a backlash from other users who disapproved of his lies and warned him he would face more serious action if he continued to lie. He was eventually barred from the forum and his account terminated.

Kelly lied to police during interview, claiming his bike was being ridden by a potential buyer called “Richard” at the time of the offence. He said his address book had been stolen and he didn’t have “Richard’s” details.

Despite admitting to officers that he posted his intentions on the internet forum, he continued to lie to them, claiming that he lied in the forum posts and was adamant that it was “Richard” in the images taken by the mobile safety camera.

It was only when traffic constable Zoe Billings of North Yorkshire Police showed him the images and the clothing worn by the rider which matched his own that he admitted his involvement.

Kelly admitted the three offences during a hearing at York Crown Court on April 8. He will be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday.

Speeding motorists are one of the biggest public safety concerns in North Yorkshire. In October a motorcyclist was banned from driving for six months after being caught travelling at 139mph by North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety camera.

Steven Graham Smith, 40, of Hallfield Crescent, Wetherby, was also ordered to take his test again, fined £415 and ordered to pay a £15 surcharge and £45 court costs.

He appeared in court after breaking the 60mph speed limit on the B1217, in Saxton, near Tadcaster, on September 29 while riding an Aprillia RSV 4R.

Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said last month that, while speeding motorists were a major public concern, a safety camera pilot in the county has been too slow to respond to the demands of communities.

She spoke as North Yorkshire Police unveiled three new camera vans which each cost £35,000 and will replace a single vehicle which was used in trials of the monitoring devices.

Mrs Mulligan said at the time: “Alongside anti-social behaviour, speeding is the biggest issue out there.

“It is the thing that I have been asked about again and again since I was elected in November. But the whole system is too bureaucratic, and the deployment of the cameras has been too slow.