Guilty after speeding at 195km/h

FAST: A Napier teenager had pleaded guilty after driving at excessive speeds. PHOTO FILE

A boy racer who hit 195kmh while being chased by police after being seen doing three 360degs spins at a rural intersection near Napier has been warned he could be placed on community detention to stop him getting up to similar antics at weekends.

The warning by Judge Geoff Rea was given after Braeden Sheil Ralph Palmer, 18, pleaded guilty in Napier District Court yesterday to charges of driving with sustained loss of traction, failing to stop for police using red and blue flashing lights and reckless driving.

Police prosecutor Sergeant John Ashfield said Palmer was driving a Nissan Cefiro, one of about 50 vehicles congregating at the intersection of Puketitiri and Glengarry roads west of Napier on the night of September 12-13.

It was 12.14am when a police officer saw the burnouts after which Palmer accelerated on Glengarry Rd towards State Highway 5 (the Napier-Taupo road).

The summary said Palmer turned on to the highway towards Taupo, continuing at excessive speeds. at one stage recorded on radar at 195kmh - almost twice the limit of 100kmh. With Palmer driving on the wrong side of the road and cutting corners, police abandoned the pursuit because of the danger to road users.

Police said Palmer stopped soon afterwards, and arranged for someone else to pick him up and for a passenger to drive the Cefiro back to Napier, when police again saw the car being driven at excessive speeds.

Palmer later admitted the facts and agreed with police it was a "stupid" thing to, counsel Darren Foster reiterating that concession as Palmer stood in the dock, dressed tidily with a jacket and tie.

Judge Rea ordered a report on Palmer's suitability for community detention with community work at weekends, and in explanation to any judge carrying out the sentencing which he set for January 19 said it was a "suicidal" and "ridiculous" piece of driving.

"In 20 years I don't think I've seen such driving," he said. "It was nothing short of suicidal."

He said anyone who knows Glengarry Rd and its winding and hilly course would know what he meant.