Dangerous Motorcyclist Lies His Way Into Prison

Paul Whyatt was travelling at twice the legal speed limit with the police on his tail when he made a final costly mistake. It wasn’t a wrong turn or a collision, but rather something that, from his perspective, was probably far, far worse. He accidentally used his real license plate while evading police.

For years, Paul had been speeding away from police on his BMW S1000 RR motorbike with ease, but it didn’t always go smoothly. His first unsuccessful getaway happened in 1999, when police chased him until he crashed into the backyard garden of someone’s home in the Isle of Man (he had no insurance for that one). Instead of learning from his mistakes and obeying traffic laws, he decided to ride twice as fast and three times as sneaky.

He began to use fake license plates to avoid ever getting caught again, and for a long time it seemed to be working. Not only was Paul one step of police on the road, he was also one step ahead of them in their investigations. Time and time again, Paul would barely escape – often at speeds of 180 mph. 
It wasn’t that Paul was necessarily a skilled driver – the poor gardener from 1999 would tell you that – he was just too wild and reckless to be chased. Police would often top out at 150 mph before disengaging out of fear for public safety. It wasn’t worth risking innocent lives to bring him to justice.
However, his antics finally came to an end when Paul outran the police while using his correct license plate number.

It was only a 60 mph chase that did him in, certainly slow by Paul’s criminal standards, but still fast enough to end his evasive side hobby. When police reviewed their dashcam footage, they were pleased to find his real address attached to the plates.

When they went to his home, the 57-year-old suspect feigned ignorance. He told them that a gym buddy had taken his bike for a test drive to see if he wanted to buy it, and that his friend was the guilty party. Investigators wasted little time poking holes in his story:

- The supposed friend had never checked into the gym.

- Paul was shown on surveillance footage wearing the same outfit as the person they had chased.

- A rucksack at his house matched the one worn by the assailant on video.

- An illegal blade was found inside the rucksack.

Paul protested all the way to trial, but Judge Hawkesworth would have none of it. He told Paul that he had sent police “on a wild goose chase”, and that he had repeatedly lied “throughout the investigation phase of this case.” Paul was sentenced to a total of 30 months in prison, receiving 14 months for lying in court, 14 months for driving dangerously, and an additional 2 months for carrying the illegal blade. 
Worst of all (speaking for Paul, not the general public), he is no longer allowed to drive for over 3 years, and he can’t drive a motorbike of more than 50 cc for at least another 4 more. Also, he’s been fined into oblivion. So if you see poor Paul on the side of the road, give him a lift, will you? Even though that scenario isn’t even a possibility until the year 2020!  

 

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