BMW helps nail 105mph V-sign biker

Registration database black ops

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 17th May 2007 14:04 GMT

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A 45-year-old biker who thought it was a bright idea to give speed cameras the two-finger treatment while travelling at up to 105mph, on the grounds that his visor was obscuring his face and he had no registration plate on the front of his BMW, has been banned for a year, The Telegraph reports.

Bus driver Philip Coffey appeared before the beak at Luton Crown Court earlier this week on 10 counts of dangerous driving after he was tracked by police "with the help of BMW and a national registration database".

The jury at Luton Crown Court cleared Coffey on Tuesday of dangerous driving, but found him guilty on nine counts of careless driving. He then offered a guilty plea to a further nine counts of speeding last year in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard and was duly banned for 12 months and slapped with a £900 fine plus £600 costs.

Judge Michael Kay, QC, told Coffey: "Some of these speeds were eye-watering. You decided to take the system on and I am pleased to say you lost." ®

Bootnote

In case you're wondering just how BMW and the feds tracked down Coffey without having his registration number, check out the comments to this story where our (as ever) well-informed readers have the gory, rather sinister details.

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