A motorcyclist who filmed himself riding at more than 105mph through Brighton while fleeing police has been banned from driving – but has avoided jail.
Giacomino Morrone did a wheelie, jumped a red light at 90mph, swerved between vehicles, reached 80mph in a 20mph zone at Elm Grove, and drove at more than 105mph soon after that.
Shocking footage from his own helmet camera and from footage recorded from the police patrol car has been released showing the extent of Morrone’s bad driving.
Officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit were on patrol approaching Lewes Road in Brighton when Morrone rode past them on his red Yamaha MT-07 at about 8pm on April 26 last year.
Morrone, of Meadow Parade, Rottingdean, flipped up his registration plate and then was seen performing a wheelie on his motorcycle by officers in the unmarked vehicles.
When officers approached his vehicle to request him to stop, he sped off, heading south in Lewes Road past the University of Brighton.
He was pursued to the A27 and to then to Lewes, but his riding was so reckless that police had to call off the pursuit.
Morrone thought he had got away, but a check of his motorcycle registration captured on police ANPR cameras revealed his home address, and officers went there to arrest him.
When they arrived, they found him still in the same clothing and helmet as before, and the seized helmet camera footage showed his dangerous riding at high speeds during the incident.
Morrone, aged 24, a security guard, of London Road, Burgess Hill, appeared before Brighton Magistrates’ Court on February 17 where he admitted dangerous driving and drug driving.
In custody he gave a blood sample which later tested positive for 3.9 microgrammes (mcg) of cannabis per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2mcg of cannabis per litre of blood.
He told officers that he was a recreational user of the drug, but hadn’t realised it would still be in his system.
Drug-driving is one of the main factors in why people are killed or seriously injured on our roads.
Morrone was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence and was given an 18-month disqualification from driving.
He must take an extended re-test before he is allowed to ride or drive a motor vehicle on our roads.
The court ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and complete 12 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions (RAR). He must also pay £85 costs and a £128 victim surcharge.
