A MOTORCYCLIST who got away from police by “using the road like a race track” has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Police tried to pull Jacob Ben Cuthbert over in the city centre late on February 9, said Jonathan Sharpe, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

Instead of stopping, he rode off at speed.

A police officer described Cuthbert’s driving as “using the road like a race track”, said the prosecutor.

The 22-year-old swerved between vehicles, went the wrong way down a one-way street and rode between bollards and into the track on oncoming traffic on Piccadilly.

The roads including Walmgate and Hope Street were wet from recent rain.

After turning right onto the York Inner Ring Road, he escaped. Police found his abandoned motorbike, helmet and gloves, said Mr Sharpe.

But soon afterwards he handed himself in to police and confessed.

Cuthbert, of Arthur Street, off Lawrence Street, York, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

Judge Simon Hickey said that normally people that drove dangerously after failing to obey a police order to stop were jailed.

But Cuthbert had handed himself in, he didn’t have a bad driving record and he had medical problems.

Cuthbert was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months on condition he does 80 hours’ unpaid work.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to take an extended driving test before driving alone again.

For him, Mark Partridge said he had “clearly thought better of his actions” after abandoning his motorbike and handed himself in.

“It was a relatively short incident,” he said. “It was a case of the defendant simply panicked.”

Police had wanted to speak to Cuthbert because he didn’t have his lights on.

Cuthbert only just got the bike and had inadvertently turned them off.