The report in a local paper gave a different view.
FOUR bikers, who were said to have ridden at high speed across Yorkshire before the ride ended in the death of one of their friends, were given suspended prison sentences yesterday and disqualified from driving.
Judge Stephen Ashurst gave them nine months prison sentences suspended for two years and banned them for four years.
He said the evidence at their three-week trial at York Crown Court last year showed they had taken part in "deliberate competitive
driving".
Paul Backhouse 48, of Thorpe Audlin, Pontefract, Kevin Moreton, 50, of Ferrybridge, Peter Jackson, 48, of Knottingley and Andre Holland, 35, of South Kirby, Pontefract, were convicted of dangerous driving on a journey from South Milford over the Wolds to Whitby, returning via Scarborough and Norton.
The jury acquitted them of causing death by dangerous driving after Martin Firth, 33, of Beal near Goole, lost control of his high performance bike on Sherburn-in-Elmet bypass, left the road and crashed into trees. The jury could not reach a verdict on a third charge of dangerous driving.
Backhouse, Moreton and Holland were also sentenced to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £1,250 towards prosecution costs. Jackson, who draws incapacity benefit, was given a 12-months supervision order and ordered to pay £250 costs.
The prosecution alleged that Mr Firth died after all five riders encouraged each other to carry out wheelies at up to 100mph. Backhouse, Jackson, Moreton and Firth were wearing high visibility jackets with the words Two Wheels Advanced Training School across the back.
Andrew Dallas, prosecuting, told the judge he had been asked by the Coroner to make him aware that Backhouse and Moreton were also involved in a collision on the B1222 in July, 2004 in which another motorcyclist travelling at over 100mph hit a Jaguar head-on killing himself and the car driver.
Mr Dallas said Backhouse, who fractured his ankle after hitting debris from the Jaguar crash, admitted to police that he had been travelling at 80 to 90 mph. He ended up in a field 122 metres away.
In mitigation, Andrew Thompson, said the death of Mr Firth had weighed very heavily on the minds of the four defendants.
He told Judge Ashurst that Backhouse and Moreton had not previously met the motorcyclist who died in the 2004 collision. Referring to the 145-mile drive across Yorkshire, he added: "None of them accept that they were doing wheelies anywhere."
Chief Superintendent Ali Higgins, of North Yorkshire Police, said the prosecution was a message to motorcyclists who put themselves and others in danger. "Don't come to North Yorkshire or you will face the full force of the law.
"This tragedy highlights the horrendous and, ultimately, fatal disregard some motorists have for their safety and that of other road users.
"The group went out that day with an element of arrogance and contempt for the law and total disregard for safety, with one of them paying the ultimate price as a result of those actions."
Seems odd to me that the prosecution should allege they were encouraging each other and pulling wheelies at some point or another. Either they were seen doing it or have some sort of disclosure from one of them. That report above doesn't really give any light on the matter.
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Topic: Going to and from 'meets' alone ??? (Read 2411 times)