Off-road motorcyclist admits dangerous driving in Northampton

A disqualified driver who was seen riding an off-road motorcycle with a young teenage pillion passenger in the King’s Heath area of Northampton has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

On Friday, July 28, officers from Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Revive team on patrol spotted the scrambler bike as it rode towards them after both had entered Severn Drive from opposite directions.

The rider, who was wearing a distinctive orange jacket, briefly stopped which enabled officers to identify him, before he rode off at excessive speed, mounting pavements and through road junctions without looking.

At the time of the incident, the local area had been busy with members of the public including children, who had attended a nearby event, and the rider’s erratic driving had placed himself, his young teenage passenger, and others at risk.

When officers attended Joshua Oliver Streeton’s home address in Avon Drive, Northampton, they recovered the distinctive orange jacket he’d been wearing at the time however, the bike was not there.

Streeton was arrested and subsequently charged with two offences - driving dangerously and while disqualified - and at Northampton Magistrates’ Court last Thursday (August 10), he pleaded guilty and will now be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday, September 6.

Sergeant Scott Garbett of the Northampton Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We’ve received numerous complaints about the nuisance motorcycles which have plagued the King’s Heath area recently - riding on playfields, on footpaths and on our roads.

“This is not only anti-social behaviour but is also extremely dangerous. Not only are the riders putting their own lives at risk, but the lives of their pillion passengers, other road users and pedestrians.”

Anyone with information about motorcycles being ridden illegally in their area should call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or report it online at www.northants.police.uk/reportonline.

Alternatively, if you prefer to remain anonymous, information can be submitted to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.