Off-road biker receives suspended sentence for dangerous driving
A man who tore through streets on a scrambler bike – hitting 80mph as he sped on the wrong side of a dual carriageway – has received a suspended sentence.
Mohammed Polash was among a gang of off-road bikers, including several on quad bikes, causing chaos in Birmingham on April 11, during the Covid-19 lockdown.
While most people were heeding the Government's orders and staying home, Polash and his associates turned the quiet roads into their own racetrack.
West Midlands Police's traffic officers were out in force in anticipation of anti-social bikers taking to the streets and encountered the group by Park Circus Island, on the A38.
Polash, 22, made off from the officers and was pursued, before ditching his bike is Grosvenor Road, in Handsworth, and running off.
Polash, of George Arthur Road, in Alum Rock, was quickly chased down and arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, driving without a licence or insurance, and failing to stop for police.
He admitted the offences and at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday(7), he was handed a six month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and banned from driving for 15 months. He was also ordered to pay £542 in court costs and charges.
PC Mitch Darby from our traffic unit, said: “We had several calls from members of the public reporting this group riding dangerously and intimidating other road users – so we positioned officers to intercept them near Park Circus Island.
“Polash rode the wrong side of dual carriage ways, and the wrong way around roundabouts, causing other motorists and pedestrians to take evasive action. It was hugely dangerous and his actions could have caused a serious collision.
“Riding off-road bikes on public roads is illegal; they can only be ridden on private land with the landowner’s permission.
“We know that people riding off-road bikes anti-socially is a real concern in our communities. They are intimidating, a noise nuisance, tear-up grassland and pose a danger.
“We are listening to those concerns and have responded by running a series of operations to target offenders which will continue through the summer. We will seize their bikes and take them to court; it won’t be tolerated.”
Several other suspects have been summoned to court for motoring offences and others remain under investigation for dangerous driving.
