A MOTORCYCLIST who hit the highest speed recorded on a Scottish road has been jailed for nine months.
Neil Purves, 27, was also handed a five-year driving ban after reaching 166mph on the A702 near West Linton, Peeblesshire, earlier this year.
Police caught the hairdresser on May 13 when they were alerted by a "high-pitched engine noise" while on patrol.
Peebles Sheriff Court heard that one of the officers involved, a man of 28 years' experience, was "shocked" at the "excessively high speed" achieved by Purves.
Fiscal depute Alastair Learmonth told the court: "The speed libelled (charged) of 166mph is thought to be the highest speed recorded on a public road in Scotland."
Purves, from Cockburnspath, Berwickshire, earlier admitted a charge of dangerous driving.
His lawyer argued the case for a non-custodial sentence, saying his client was a man of good character who had been "seduced" by the power of his high-speed bike.
But Sheriff John Horsburgh told Purves: "The speed at which you were driving this motorcycle makes a custodial sentence the only appropriate one."
Defence lawyer Graham Walker said his client, who has now sold his bike, was of good character, remorseful and was "normally a mature and reasonable young man in every way".
Sheriff Horsburgh reduced Purves's sentence to nine months from a starting point of 12 months on account of his guilty plea.
