172mph Porsche driver is jailed, banned and must take another L-test

Tim Brady, 33, is the fastest man ever to be caught by a British speed trap.

He was clocked on a dual carriageway on a Saturday afternoon travelling at almost two and a half times the 70mph limit - faster than the take-off speed of a Boeing 737 carrying 110 passengers.

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A policeman with a speed gun was standing on a bridge over the A420 in Oxfordshire as Brady roared towards him in the £98,000 black 3.6-litre Porsche 911 Turbo.

He alerted another officer, who was waiting at a roundabout less than half a mile down the road and flagged the car down.

The Porsche swerved from side to side as Brady, who was carrying a colleague, slammed on the brakes and just managed to stop in time.

As he was arrested, he blurted out: "Oh s**t, oh s**t, I've lost my job, everything. I've just got a new job."

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He immediately resigned from the luxury car hire firm where he worked as a delivery driver.

Yesterday, he was jailed for ten weeks at Oxford Crown Court after admitting dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.

Brady, of Harrow, North London, was also given a three-year driving ban and ordered to pay £474 costs.

He was told he would have to sit an extended driving test before taking to the road in the future.

Judge David Morton Jack said: "Your driving was criminally self-indulgent and utterly thoughtless of the danger you might be creating for the innocent."

The court heard that the Helphire firm had taken delivery of the Porsche at its Oxfordshire depot on Friday, January 26.

Brady nagged his boss to drive the car but was repeatedly told no.

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He returned the next day - his day off - and took it without consent.

He was said in court to have described his actions as "foolhardy, stupid and done in a moment of weakness".

His parents, with whom he has been living since losing his job, were in court to see him sent down.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "This was an absolutely terrifying piece of driving.

"Our roads are not race tracks or for breaking speed records.

"It is fortunate the police were there to take action before he ended up killing himself or someone else.

"Through his own selfishness, in what appears to be a lust for speed, he has completely disregarded the safety of others."

Until now, the fastest car clocked by a speed camera resulting in a conviction was a BMW M3 driven at 156mph in 2003 by Aberdeen car dealer Jason McAllister.

In the same year, motorcyclist Andrew Osborne was clocked riding at 157mph on the A412 in Buckingham.

Police are still trying to trace a biker who posted on the internet a film of himself speeding at 176mph on the dangerous Woodhead Pass in South Yorkshire.

Another motorcyclist, Daniel Nicks, was caught out by his own film when police found a tape he made of himself doing 175mph.

The father of two strapped a camcorder to his helmet and roared along the A41 in Hertfordshire before he crashed. Police found the camera, played back the tape and charged him.