A woman who crashed an illegal bike into a wall during a police pursuit has been sentenced.
21-year-old Natalia Burke was riding an electric Sur-Ron without a helmet when she failed to stop for a marked police motorcycle in Melksham on 9 July last year.
The unlicenced defendant, of Queensway, led the roads policing officer on a chase along Spa Road and into Coronation Road while carrying a pillion passenger.
She then entered Milton Avenue on the incorrect side of the road, crashing into a garden wall – before making off from the scene on foot.
At Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on 15 January, Burke pleaded guilty to a string of driving offences, including:
- Failing to stop after a road accident
- Failing to stop for police
- Driving otherwise in accordance with a licence
- Driving without due care and attention
- Using a motor vehicle on a road without third party insurance
- Riding a motorcycle on a road without protective headgear
She was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and was disqualified from holding a driving licence for four months.
PC Hobbs, from Wiltshire’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “Burke’s manner of driving was incredibly careless and it’s a matter of luck that no one was injured.
“I would encourage anyone who owns or is thinking about buying an e-bike to consider the clearly defined regulations to ensure they are not breaking the law when riding it.
“We will continue to disrupt riders who show a disregard for the law; their bikes will be seized and they will be brought to court.”
