159mph "I was only practising"...

[noxlumos]

Does anyone else find it nothing short of incredible that the Police officer found guilty of driving at 159mph got away with an absolute discharge?
If that were you or I, we'd have been hammered with an excruciatingly long ban and a fine roughly equalling our lifetime's wages.Some of his exceptional speeding was in a 30mph limit area where little kids play. Things like this do nothing to improve public relations for the police when the courts uphold them in being above the law and give a token conviction because they cannot do otherwise.What does everyone else think about this?

[SteveD]

But he was driving at 159 mph on the M 54. The difference between that and a test track or a racing circuit is the potential of danger to the public. Not justifiable in my opinion.

[buildersmate]

Needing to practice in order to arrive in "double-quick" time in the event of an emergency does not need to involve going at 159mph. In my own estimation, 100mph on a motorway would have been an adequate 'practice' speed and might have been defensible. This Officer was extracting the urine.