AN UNQUALIFIED motorcyclist involved in a 130mph motorway pursuit by police has been spared prison.

Dean Blackmore was given a 120-day sentence, suspended for two years, and banned from driving for two years when he appeared at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court.

He was caught only when he burned out his bike’s engine after the high-speed chase on the M2, near Chatham, on September 24.

Blackmore, of Recreation Way, Kemsley, near Sittingbourne, had been told he faced jail for his “reckless” speeding at an earlier hearing, when he admitted dangerous driving, driving without insurance and on a motorway with only a provisional licence, and failing to stop for the police.

During the chase he rode at speeds of up to 134mph, used the hard shoulder to overtake a vehicle at 120mph before making a dangerous turn on to a slip road and driving through a red light at 60 to 70mph.

He then re-joined the motorway and was caught only when his bike’s engine overheated and burned out near Boxley. His girlfriend was riding pillion on the R-registration Suzuki bike without protective clothing.

At the earlier hearing, Blackmore, who previously lived in Maidstone, said he panicked because he did not want to lose face in front of his girlfriend.

The court heard he had convictions from June 2004 for similar motoring offences.