Speeding biker sentenced following 125mph pursuit

A biker who reached speeds of over 125mph during a pursuit across Cheshire West, and was later found to have been riding whilst under the influence of drugs, has been sentenced.

Kerion Griffiths, of Longfield Avenue, Chester, appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 12 November where he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

The court heard that on Saturday 2nd August a uniformed motorcycle officer from the Roads and Crime Unit was on patrol on the A54 Chester Road, Kelsall, as part of an Operation Ceaser deployment. During this patrol, he noticed a green Kawaski ZX1000 motorbike overtake a group of bikes at a set of temporary traffic lights at over 100mph.

The officer pursued the bike, that was travelling in the direction of Northwich, and indicated it pull over; however, it failed to do so and continued to drive in excess of the speed limits on 70mph, 50mph and 20mph roads.

During the pursuit, the officer recorded the motorbike reaching speeds of over 125mph and, due to this level of risk being taken by the rider of the bike, was forced abandon the pursuit. Whilst the bike was not seen again that day, the officer recorded the incident and informed colleagues to look out for it on future patrols.

A week later, on Saturday 9th August, two officers were on patrol on the A41 Chester Road in Ellesmere Port when they pulled over the same green Kawaski motorbike.

One of the officers in the police vehicle had been made aware of the pursuit that involved this bike a week earlier subsequently arrested Griffiths for failing to stop for police and dangerous driving.

A subsequent search also resulted in the officers uncovering several cannabis cigarettes in his rucksack, which led to him being tested at the roadside for drugs. This test coming back positive for him having traces of cannabis in his system and he was further arrested on suspicion of drug driving and then taken into custody.

Once in custody, officers conducted a section 18 search of his home, with them finding a further quantity of cannabis inside and Griffiths was again further arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis.

Upon being interviewed, Griffiths told officers he was “going to go guilty” and fully admitted to being the rider of the Kawasaki motorcycle involved in the pursuit on Saturday 2 August, going on to say that he was aware that a police motorcycle had indicated to him to pull over, but he had panicked and reached the high speeds on his bike in an attempt to flee.

The 31-year-old was subsequently charged and would plead guilty on his first appearance in court on 14 October.

On top of his sentence, Griffiths, 31, was handed an 18-month driving ban, a £272 court charge and he will be the subject of a 12-month supervision period, where if he reoffends during this timeframe, he could face a custodial sentence.

Sergeant Andy Griffiths, of the Constabulary’s Motorcycle Unit, said:

"It was clear that Keiron Griffiths was using our roads as a racetrack and had no intention to stop travelling at dangerously high speeds that the pursuing officer observed.

“Not only this, but when arrested by colleagues a week later, he was found to be over drug drive limit and in possession of cannabis. High speeds paired with riding under the influence of illegal substance only further increased the risk his posed to other road users, pedestrians and himself.

“However, thanks to the teamwork shown by our officers, including the PC who remembered hearing about the green Kawasaki motorbike that sped away from his colleague at over 125mph a week earlier, a successful prosecution has been made and another dangerous driver has been removed from our roads.”