Judge jails 178 mph biker and imposes 10-year ban

A motorcyclist involved in a fatal dual carriageway crash after riding at 178 mph (286 km/h) has been handed a 15-month jail sentence and a 10-year driving ban.

Mechanic Lewis Baker, 35, was badly hurt in the crash at Tingewick, Buckinghamshire, in 2023 - his brother-in-law, Jason Wallis, 31, who was riding alongside him, died.

Baker, who admitted dangerous driving, was sentenced by Judge Jonathan Cooper at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday.

The judge told him: "The place for driving at extremely high speed is a race track and not the public road."

Judge Cooper heard how Baker, of Tadmarton, Downhead Park, Milton Keynes, and Wallis, of Browns Wood, Milton Keynes, crashed into a car they were trying to pass on the A421 on 9 September 2023.

Wallis was trying to undertake - and Baker, who broke a thigh bone, was trying to overtake.

Both were riding identical Yamaha R1 bikes and wearing identical leathers, the judge heard.

Baker had filmed their 40-minute journey, and Wallis's crash, on a GoPro camera attached to his helmet.

The judge was told how camera evidence indicated that Baker had hit a top speed of 178 mph (286 km/h) and was travelling at 120 mph (193.12 km/h) when the two riders crashed.

Judge Cooper said Baker's riding was as "as bad as it could be".

He said Baker had "flipped" his number plate and was riding in a way "designed to avoid detection".

"You could not have been identified as you went past speed cameras," he said.

"It was also the case for Mr Wallis's motorcycle."

The judge said Wallis had met his death when riding in "exactly the same" fashion as Baker.

• Essex Police said in June that "flipping" was a way of "hiding" a motorcycle number plate. The force said in August 2025 a speed camera recorded a motorcyclist whose number plate was not visible speeding. Officers discovered that the number plate had been deliberately "flipped" - preventing it from being read
• In 2025, a specialist motorcycling website explained how a "flip-up" plate worked. "Press a button, and this numberplate folds in half to cover up your number," said a Motorcycle News article. "Sadly this is strictly illegal for use on the road... "You'd only want one as a show plate or on a track day"

Baker had told police that he had ridden in a similar fashion about "100 times" before, the judge heard.

Prosecuting barrister David Jones said Baker had no previous convictions - and appeared to have had a clean licence.

Judge Cooper said Baker may not have been detected because of number plate flipping.

Baker had, in June, been cleared of causing Wallis's death by dangerous driving after a trial.

Jones argued that the two men were "drag racing" and said Baker's dangerous riding had contributed to Wallis's death.

Barrister James Smith-Wilds, for Baker, said "there was no racing".

He said Wallis, an engineer who worked for Nissan in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, was a "far better" and "far more experienced" rider - and Baker had "no influence" on how Wallis rode.

Wallis's widow, Nikki Wallis, who is also Baker's sister, was called as a defence witness during the trial.

Nikki Wallis said her husband and brother had been "best friends".

She said her husband had been an experienced motorcyclist, but told jurors that he was "just an accident waiting to happen".

Wallis's mother, Sharon Gannon, told the BBC outside court how the accident had left her "devastated".

"The day he died, my world changed forever," Gannon said.

"I feel as though I am living in a nightmare from which I cannot wake."

Gannon said her son had ridden motorbikes since he was seven and was a "fully skilled and a highly competent rider".

"Throughout his life he demonstrated exceptional responsibility and capability on the road," she said.

"He had never received a criminal conviction, a dangerous driving offence, or even a fine.

"His record reflected the seriousness with which he approached both riding and personal responsibility."

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