Van driver smashes M1 speed limit driving on busy single-carriageway road in Northampton

A van driver who smashed the motorway speed limit driving through a busy part of Northampton landed in court after being spotted by an unmarked police vehicle.

Paudie Christopher Sexton, aged 42, was behind the wheel of a blue Ford Transit as it raced along a 40mph, single-carriageway stretch of Wellingborough Road between Billing and Weston Favell in July last year.

The speed verified using the police vehicle’s speedometer was an eye-watering 85mph.

Sexton, of Wycliffe Road in the town, was fined £461 and banned from driving for 21 days after pleading guilty at Northampton Magistrates Court on Friday (October 1).

He was also ordered to pay £131 towards prosecution costs and a surcharge to fund victim services.

Speeding is one of the so-called ‘Fatal Four’ offences — alongside drink-driving, not wearing a seatbelt and using a phone at the wheel — which are most commonly linked to deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

PC Dave Lee, of the Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads Team, said: “Motorists who continue to ignore the rules of the roads are putting their lives and others at risk.

“I have seen first-hand the devastating effect speeding can have not only on those involved in a collision but also family, friends and the wider community, so please stick to the speed limits.”