Motorcycle clocked more than 50km/h over the speed limit

A MAN has received several fines for riding an unlicensed motorcycle with a defect notice at speeds more than 50km/h over the speed limit.

At 6.50am on May 5, Garth Waterton (29) was clocked travelling at 133km/h in an 80km/h speed zone on Marmion Avenue in Duncraig.

It was then found Waterton did not have the correct licence to ride a motorcycle, the bike was unlicensed and a work order had been issued in April.

Appearing in Joondalup Magistrate’s Court on Monday, his lawyer Terry Dobson said the father-of-two was running late for work after having some “trouble” with his partner the night before.

He said Waterton decided to take the bike because the car was “having work done” and he “had to get to work to stick to his commitment”.

Mr Dobson said the roads were dry and it had become light, and Waterton was travelling in the northbound lane closest to the “large nature strip” dividing the southbound lanes.

“While it was selfish driving, he was away from cars entering from the left,” he said.

“He was careful while being selfish.”

Mr Dobson said when Waterton passed the police, also on bikes, and saw them do a u-turn, he pulled over.

He therefore requested Magistrate Gregory Benn consider imposing fines and the minimum suspensions.

“It’s very well to say he needed to stick to his commitment work-wise but he endangered the public and that is not acceptable,” Mr Benn said.

He said the four charges were a “very dangerous cocktail of circumstances”.

“There was a very real potential for an accident to occur where you or someone else could have been seriously injured or killed,” he said.

Mr Benn fined Waterton $1300 for reckless driving exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h or more and suspended his licence for six months, $600 for driving a vehicle contrary to a defect notice, $100 for no authority to drive with the incorrect class of licence, and $100 for using an unlicensed vehicle.

He was also ordered to pay half of an annual licence fee to the Department of Transport, which was $26.25, and court costs of $205.30, all up costing Waterton $2331.55.

“Don’t do it again or you will face the real possibility of a term of imprisonment,” Mr Benn said.

More from Joondalup Court:

Dad avoids jail for moving car across street

Man fined over trolley theft

Fishing fine five times more costly