A man who admitted taking his uncle’s motorcycle and a slew of traffic offences was today banned from the roads for 18 months.

Tayo Smith, 21, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to taking the motorcycle without consent and violently resisting arrest, as well as two counts of speeding.

He also admitted riding an unlicensed motorcycle, riding without a drivers licence, riding an uninsured vehicle, and two counts of the use of fraudulent documents.

The court heard that police stationed near the Crow Lane roundabout in Paget saw Smith riding a Yamaha Soul GT motorcycle into Hamilton at 62km/h – almost twice the 35km/h speed limit.

Officers stopped him at the junction of Crow Lane and Lane Hill and informed him of his speed and his expired licence plate, which indicated it had been out of date for several months.

A check on the plate’s registration number linked it to a grey Sym scooter, leading police to believe the bike may have been stolen.

Officers alerted Smith of their suspicions and arrested him for taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

Smith attempted to run away, but officers grabbed him as he kicked and flailed his arms. They told Smith to stop resisting arrest and eventually used pepper spray to incapacitate him.

Officers warned him that his actions constituted a violent resist of arrest and took him into custody.

Inquiries into the motorcycle revealed that it belonged to Smith’s uncle, who had reported the vehicle stolen two months before the incident, and that Smith replaced its licence plate with his own.

Further inquiries showed that Smith did not have a valid licence and that the plate’s registration number was uninsured.

The incident took place on July 30, 2021.

The second charges of speeding and use of fraudulent documents, as well as the dangerous driving charge, took place on August 13 the same year in St David’s, though the evidence was not read out in court.

The court heard that Smith, from Paget, initially pleaded not guilty to the offences, and was due to stand trial last Wednesday but he did not show up for the hearing.

He appeared yesterday and decided instead to change his plea for all charges.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo ordered a social inquiry report for Smith and adjourned the case until March 27 for sentencing.

He banned Smith from the roads for 18 months and extended his bail until sentencing.

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