Grangemouth man lost control of motorbike he should not have been on

Police who attended the scene saw skid marks on the road and noted one of the damaged vehicles had been hit so hard it had been moved back from its original position.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that the rogue rider, Robert Simonow, had injured himself in the smash on Strowan Road, Grangemouth, on March 13.

The court was told Simonow, who is originally from Poland and was assisted by an interpreter in the dock, had been banned for 16 months in 2016, but that had not stopped him getting astride the motorbike and riding off on it that afternoon.

After leaving his house in Fendoch Road, Grangemouth, he reached Westerton Road before turning around on Strowan Road. It was there he lost control and hit the two cars before abandoning the bike and running away.

Officers traced him to his home at 22c Fendoch Road later and charged him with three road traffic offences.

In court Simonow (44) admitted driving the motorbike on Strowan Road while disqualified, driving without insurance and driving at excessive speed, failing to keep the motorbike under control and colliding with two parked vehicles and had sentence deferred until last Thursday.

His lawyer told the court: “He was visited by a friend who was thinking about buying the motorbike and asked him to ride it to see if it worked.

“He knows he was disqualified and should not have done so, but did, then realised there was a mechanical fault and lost control. He is aware this is a serious matter and has a significant scar on his chin as a result of the accident.”

Sheriff John Mundy was told Simonow earns £300 a week from his full time job working at a recycling centre. He sends £200 a month to his former partner and two children in Poland and has “disposable” income.

Sheriff Mundy disqualified Simonow for 27 months and fined him £600 to be paid at the rate of £50 a month.