Rockingham: man who drove on wrong side of road at 140km/h fined $8000

A MAN who drove on the wrong side of the road at speeds of 140km/h was fined more than $8000 in Rockingham Magistrates Court.

Anthony Evan Cooper pleaded guilty to dangerous driving to escape police, failing to comply with a direction to stop, having no authority to drive and possessing drug paraphernalia with methamphetamine on it.

The prosecutor said Cooper was riding a motorbike on Johnston Road on July 26 at 2.38am when he drove past police.

Upon seeing them, he sped past and police followed with their lights and sirens on.

Cooper reached speeds of up to 140km/h, at times riding on the wrong side of the road through various streets in Bertram.

He overshot an intersection and dropped the bike and was arrested by police.

His lawyer said the incident was methamphetamine related.

“The scourge of meth; he’s lucky not to have died,” he said.

“He was under the influence of meth at the time and his mind wasn’t clear.”

Magistrate Adam Hills-Wright said the incident could have been worse.

“It seems to me you have dodged a couple of bullets; to come off a bike at those speeds death is no doubt a certainty,” he said.

“Completely innocent road users can get caught up in this.

“It’s happened many times in this state because of people like you.

“You are dealing with a meth addiction; it’s not something kicked overnight.

“In my view (methamphetamine) is no excuse whatsoever. It would make precious little difference to someone affected by your use of it.

“It is an insidious and terrible drug.”

He was fined a total of $8450 and was disqualified from driving for two years.