Biker jailed for eight months after taking selfies and pulling wheelies on M6

A biker who performed wheelies and took selfies while speeding down the M6 has been jailed for eight months.

Pawel Zietowski, who reached speeds of 117mph (188kmph) on his Yamaha motorbike, was caught on camera in the “hair-raising” footage.

He was filmed by an unmarked police patrol for 16 minutes while steering with his thighs and even rummaging through a backpack to find his phone.

The 27-year-old, who admitted dangerous driving at a previous hearing, was pulled over on the northbound M6 near Yarnfield, Staffordshire, on 3 June.

“You were showing off,” Judge David Fletcher told Zietowski. “It was clearly driving which was over a lengthy period of time, involving speeds of up to 117mph, involving you twice removing the backpack.

“You were pulling wheelies on a number of occasions and at one point you were standing up with no hands on the handlebars.

“This was a piece of appalling driving.

“You say you were involved with some sort of group relating to stunt-type driving. If that is the case then there are places and times for that sort of stunt-riding to take place, that place is not the M6 at two o’clock in the afternoon with lots of other vehicles on the road.”

The prosecutor, Robert Price, said an officer driving an unmarked Audi first noticed the bike because of how fast Zietowski was driving.

“He followed it for 16 minutes,” he said. “It seems plain that the defendant probably wasn’t aware that he was being pursued by an unmarked police car.”

The defence barrister, Robert Holt, asked the judge to consider suspending Zietowski’s jail term, partially because of the dry road conditions and the light volume of traffic.

Holt said: “Mr Zietowski is keen to emphasise that he is a changed man from the time of this incident.

“He offers his genuine remorse to the court today. From Mr Zietowski’s point of view, he is finished with motorbikes, they are no longer part of his life.”

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“He made the commute [using the M6] regularly,” Holt added. “He has good prospects with a view to his own business being set up.”

Inspector Sion Hathaway, of the Central Motorway police group, said: “Such dangerous riding will not be tolerated on our roads.

“Zietowski showed a blatant disregard for the rules of the road, and fellow motorists. His antics could have easily resulted in tragedy.”

He was also given 28-month driving ban.

Earlier in the year, police caught a man who took a selfie at the wheel while driving and tweeted it.

He was caught out as, in the pictures, the steering wheel — and road — could be seen reflected in his sunglasses.

An officer from Northumbria Police tweeted: “It is people like this who end up destroying people lives through their own stupidity