This is the shocking moment a motorcyclist crashed and was flung through the air as he was speeding at 118mph.
Nicholas Pannell, 29, was racing through traffic in Devon at up tco three times the speed limit alongside fellow rider Joshua Illingworth, 30.
The GoPro footage from Pannell’s helmet shows him steering into a corner too early and being catapulted from his motorbike as he hit the grass verge.
Pannell suffered fractures to his ribs and collarbone but he and Illingworth avoided jail despite a police officer describing it as ‘one of the worst cases of dangerous driving I’ve investigated’.
They were brought to justice after police were called to the scene of the crash, near Modbury, Devon, and found Pannell’s detached GoPro on July 2 last year.
Prosecutor Nigel Hall told Plymouth Crown Court that the video showed the pair ‘effectively racing through lanes of Devon and South Hams’ for 15 miles.
He said the speedometer on Pannell’s 1,100cc KTM showed 90mph in a 30mph zone, and a staggering 118mph on country roads where the national speed limit applied.
The court was told that the list of violations during the ride was so long that investigating officers gave up writing them all.
As Pannell shouted ‘Oh s***, oh s***, s***, s***’, he hit a soft hedge and was sent hurtling into the field behind.
GoPro footage from Nicholas Pannell’s helmet shows him steering into a corner too early and being catapulted from his motorbike as he hit the grass verge
Illingworth, from Paignton, Devon, and Pannell, from Plymouth, Devon, both pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at a hearing on January 3.
Sgt Olly Tayler said the case was ‘one of the worst cases of dangerous driving I’ve investigated’.
He said: ‘It was nothing more than sheer luck that it didn’t end in a fatality or multiple fatality. The standard of riding was appalling.
‘As a roads police officer and motorbike rider, I was genuinely shocked when I saw the footage. The potential consequences could’ve been completely catastrophic.
‘This was a sunny Sunday afternoon in July and there was a lot of traffic out. The roads were not deserted at all.’
As Pannell shouted ‘Oh s***, oh s***, s***, s***’, he hit a soft hedge and was sent hurtling into the field behind
Pannell suffered fractures to his ribs and clavicle but he and fellow rider Joshua Illingworth avoided jail sentences
Ali Rafati, defending Illingworth, said his client ‘understands the utter stupidity of his conduct’, noting how he had no previous convictions and was a man of good character.
He said his client felt he had ‘brought shame upon himself and his family’ and was prepared to carry out ‘humbling work’ as punishment.
The court heard they had both been of previous good character and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
Both were sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, disqualified from driving for 12 months, and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge of £140.