A motorcyclist has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for dangerous driving after reaching speeds of up to 178 mph during a ride that ended with his brother-in-law's death. Lewis Baker, 35, was also banned from driving for 10 years.
The incident occurred on September 9, 2023, when Baker and his brother-in-law, Jason Wallis, 31, were riding identical Yamaha R1 motorcycles. They crashed into a car while attempting to pass it on the A421. Wallis died in the collision, while Baker sustained a fractured thigh bone.
Footage from Baker's GoPro camera captured the moments leading up to the crash, including instances of extreme speeding and dangerous maneuvers. The prosecution stated that the pair reached speeds of up to 178 mph. Their motorcycles were reportedly equipped with "flipping" number plates, designed to rotate and display a blank side to speed cameras to evade detection.
During the ride, Baker was recorded performing wheelies at 106 mph on the wrong side of the road, running a red light at 123 mph, and overtaking into oncoming traffic over double white lines. He admitted to driving like a "menace" and told police he had ridden in a similar dangerous manner "100 times before."
Judge Jonathan Cooper emphasized that high speeds are appropriate for race tracks, not public roads, and that both riders exhibited extremely dangerous behavior. Baker was cleared of causing his brother-in-law's death by dangerous driving, as the court ruled that neither rider's actions were directly influencing the other at the moment of the crash.
Wallis's widow, Nikki, who is also Baker's sister, described her husband as an "experienced motorcyclist" but added that "he was an accident waiting to happen." Wallis was an engineer for Nissan and was considered a more experienced rider than Baker.
Senior police investigator Philip Hanham described Baker's driving as showing "total disregard to the law or to other road users safety" and called it the worst he had seen in 30 years. He noted that Baker was filming his dangerous driving with the intent to share it, demonstrating a clear intent to ride in such a manner.
The previous highest speed recorded for a convicted dangerous driver in the UK was 189 mph. Adam Campion, who reached that speed on a stolen bike in 2018, was also caught and convicted through GoPro footage and received a 21-month prison sentence.