Judge tells injured biker aged 47 that ‘pulling wheelies is what kids might do’
experienced biker suffered serious injuries when he crashed after losing control of his high-powered motorcycle while pulling a wheelie on a busy Ashbourne street.
Steven Massey had to appear over a link into Derby Crown Court from a hospital bed in his living room almost two years after the incident, such is the damage to his body.
The 47-year-old’s sentencing hearing was told how he was doing 63mph in a 40mph limit when “messing about” and carrying out the dangerous one-wheeled trick.
As he brought the front wheel back down he collided with a bollard in the road, mounted a pavement and was thrown from the near-1,000cc
Suzuki. Handing him a six-month community order, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “Pulling wheelies is something one might think youngsters might do.
“It creates a real danger to the individual doing it and other road users. One would have thought that someone of your age, maturity and experience would not have ridden in that way. It was in a residential area with a 40mph speed limit and you were assessed as doing 63mph.
“You have suffered serious injuries as a result and you are still receiving treatment and that perhaps shows how dangerous your driving was.”
Lauren Butts, prosecuting, said the incident took place in Ashbourne at around 6.30pm on July 14, 2019.
She said Massey had been out riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycle with friends and they left a pub and headed towards the town.
Miss Butts said: “Most of the other riders headed off towards the Airfield industrial estate, but this defendant and two others headed towards Ashbourne town centre.
“One of them, who was at the front, heard a bike behind him revving and it was this defendant who overtook him on the right.
“He said the bike’s front wheel was off the ground in a wheelie manoeuvre.”
Miss Butts said as the defendant dropped his front wheel back to the road, the bike collided with a bollard and mounted a kerb.
She said it then collided at speed with a telegraph pole.
Miss Butts said: “He came off the bike and suffered multiple injuries and the bike was projected into a front garden, receiving significant damage.
“One of the other riders, in his statement, concluded the incident happened because the defendant was ‘messing about on his bike.’”
Massey pleaded guilty to dangeran ous driving.
He has no previous convictions of any kind.
Christopher Brewin, his barrister, said: “The long-term prognosis is that he may still need a number of operations and his mobility has been severely restricted.
“He is going to need long term physiotherapy.”
Judge Egbuna asked how long that would be.
Massey replied himself over the link: “One of my legs is one-and-ahalf inches shorter than the other and they might have to break my pelvis to have it lengthened.”
As part of the community order Massey, of Cavendish Drive, Ashbourne, was handed a two-month curfew. He was also disqualified from driving for a year.
One would have thought that someone of your age, maturity and experience would not have ridden in that way.
Judge Robert Egbuna