A camera operator who caught two drivers from West Yorkshire clocking up 144mph was “utterly astounded by the speed of the vehicles”, police have said.
Daniel Scott Richardson was in a blue Ford Focus RS when he was caught speeding with James Burrows, who was driving a Silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, on the A19 south of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire Police confirmed.
Both men were given suspended jail terms and three-year driving bans by magistrates, the force said.
Richardson, 21, from Batley, West Yorkshire, and Burrows, 26, of Methley, Leeds, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving earlier this year and were sentenced at Northallerton Magistrates’ Court.
A force spokesman said both were given four-month jail terms, suspended for 18 months, and banned from the road for three years. They were also each ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work, fined £85 and ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge.
Both drivers were captured by North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety camera on November 30 last year, driving at 144mph in close convoy with each other on the southbound carriageway near the village of Crathorne.
North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety camera manager Dave Brown said the sentence “sends a clear message as to how seriously the criminal justice system takes such appalling driving.
“The evidence captured by the safety camera shows both vehicles travelling in close proximity at extremely high speed. Any error, no matter how minor, could have been catastrophic for the two drivers, their passengers and other road users.
“The safety camera operator at the time was utterly astounded by the speed of the vehicles.
“Members of the public should be allowed to use the roads in safety and should not be put at risk by other, irresponsible and dangerous drivers. I hope our communities can see the value of the safety camera vans when cases such as these are detected and prosecuted.
“Our mobile safety cameras are there to help keep the roads safe for all road users and we urge motorists to bear this in mind, drive at appropriate speeds and within the speed limit and do not, under any circumstances use the roads as a racetrack.”
