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Pistonheads, 25th September 2007
The fastest motorist ever caught speeding has been jailed for 10 weeks after reaching a record 172mph in a Porsche on a country A-road.
Tim Brady, 33, of Harrow, London admitted one count of dangerous driving in a £98,000 3.6-litre Porsche 911 Turbo, Oxford Crown Court heard.
He was caught in January by a police constable holding a speed gun in a random speed check on the A420 near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Previously, the fastest recorded speed resulting in a conviction was 156mph, reached in 2003 by Aberdeen car dealer Jason McAllister on the A90 between Aberdeen and Dundee.
Judge David Morton Jack gave Brady a three-year driving ban and ordered him to pay £474 costs.
He said that Brady's driving was 'criminally self-indulgent'.
Brady was a delivery driver at Helphire, a luxury car hire firm with a base at Kingston Bagpuize, not far from the speed trap.
He was driving the sports car without permission the court was told.
John Reilly, Brady's lawyer, said in defence that his client had later described his speeding as 'foolhardy, stupid and done in a moment of weakness'.
Experts said a Porsche of this type, travelling as it was at 77 metres per second, would have needed 501 metres in which to stop.
Police said Brady, who was carrying a colleague at the time, managed to stop in 681 metres, the car wobbling due to the heavy braking.
Brady had asked his boss if could take the Porsche out the previous day but was repeatedly told no, the court heard.
He then returned the next day, despite it being his day off, and took the car out.
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