Driver clocked up over 100 mph

Dec 28 2012 by Colin Rutherford, Kilmarnock Standard

A motorist who drove at 107 miles per hour on the A77 was fined £350 at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week.

And 19-year-old Mateusz Szalapski was warned that it was illegal for him to be driving in the UK on his Polish licence.

Szalapski, of Troon, pleaded guilty to driving his motorcycle on the A77 near Grassyards Road, Kilmarnock, carelessly in May.

Katie McColl, prosecuting, told the court that police clocked the motorcyclist travelling at 107 miles per hour around 8.50pm.

An agent for Szalapski said that her client was from Poland, but was “largely educated” in Britain and was now a student at the University of the West of Scotland.

He had, however, passed his driving test in his homeland and held a Polish licence, prompting Sheriff Alistair Watson to point out that that could cause him problems, although he had not been charged with that offence in this case.

The lawyer said that she had “advised him regarding that”.

Szalapski, she said, needed to drive as he was studying for a motor engineering degree in Hamilton and had a job at a garage in East Kilbride.

Said Sheriff Watson: “He has not got a valid licence to drive in this country.”

Polish and other EU licences are valid for visitors to the UK, but residents must exchange them for British licences.

Sheriff Watson endorsed Szalapski’s licence with eight penalty points.

He said: “You shouldn’t be driving without sorting out a UK licence, given that you are living in this country.

“If you don’t, you are inevitably going to find yourself disqualified very, very soon indeed.