WATCH: Driver banned after speeding at 145mph on Hampshire motorway

John Hornby, from Ringwood, pleaded guilty to speeding at 147mph on the M3 between junctions 7 and 8 of the northbound carriageway on June 13 last year.

A court heard an officer spotted his Audi S4 driving at high speed, recorded as travelling at an average of 147.1mph.

Hornby, 62, was pulled over by the officer who was driving an unmarked police car.

Prosecutor Paul Matcham told the court that this was ‘amongst the highest speeds’ that he had prosecuted.

Hornby was sentenced in his absence at Aldershot Magistrates Court earlier today.

He was disqualified from driving for nine months, fined £325 and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £32 victim surcharge.

PC Jamie Foster, from the Joint Roads Policing Unit who spotted Hornby, said: ‘We see a lot of things in this job but even I was shocked to see someone driving at such high speeds.

‘You can see from the footage just how dangerous it was.

‘He was not only risking his own life but the lives of other innocent road users and that is unacceptable.

‘It is sheer luck that Hornby’s driving that day did not cause a collision, because if it had the consequences at that speed would have undoubtedly been fatal.

‘There is absolutely no excuse for such reckless and totally irresponsible driving and we will take action against those who put lives at risk.’