The man accused of dangerous driving after a video was posted showing a motorcycle going up to 299 km/h was found not guilty in Victoria provincial court Thursday.

Randy George Scott, 26, did not speak to the media as he made his way to a silver Mercedes outside the courthouse. He was accompanied by another man, who took the wheel and pulled quickly away from the curb.

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In his ruling, Judge Robert Higinbotham said he was satisfied that the motorcycle in a video posted to YouTube and the one seen in police photographs were “one and the same,” but had reasonable doubt about who was actually in the driver’s seat.

The video, shot from a camera mounted on the motorcycle, showed the bike weaving at high speed through traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway through Greater Victoria in April 2012.

Higinbotham said any scratches and markings on the bike that varied between the video and photos could be explained by differences in things like camera angle and lighting.

It was another matter with identifying Scott as the guilty party, he said, and pointed to a description of the rider given by a police officer. He happened to see the speeding motorcycle from the opposite side of the highway. The officer’s description put the rider at five-foot-eight to five-foot-11 with a slim build, but Higinbotham said Scott is “manifestly not slim,” has a muscular chest and weighs from 190 to 195 pounds.

Higinbotham also noted the description of an unknown man who left a note at the Cactus Club restaurant that hinted at a confession. The man, who signed his note “The Ghost Rider,” was described by Cactus Club staff as tall and slim, but Saanich police did not follow up by collecting the note or surveillance video that showed the man.

Another element of doubt arose from reports of a tall, slim friend being seen with Scott, Higinbotham said.

Criticisms arose during the trial of some of the police work on the case and whether certain leads should have been followed up, but Crown prosecutor Stephen Fudge said he will not cast blame. “In any investigation, you can always do a better job,” Fudge said. “There’s always things that go undone and the police have a limited amount of resources.

“They have a limited amount of time to investigate a large number of cases.”

Defence lawyer Michael Mulligan said he was surprised at the leads that weren’t looked at more closely by police.

“[Police] became focused on the accused and then decided not to follow up on tips.”

Fudge said that the person riding the motorcycle in the YouTube video “was clearly engaged in criminal activity.

“The issue was ‘Who was that masked man?’ and, in this particular case, we fell a little short of being able prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Saanich Police Sgt. Steve Eassie acknowledged the judge’s concerns with some of the police work. “There’s always things that we learn from.”

Scott’s bike was sold through the civil forfeiture process and he has no way of getting it back.

A short time after leaving court, he posted “BEAT IT” on his Facebook page, in reference to the acquittal.

jwbell@timescolonist.com