Daniel Peter Johnson: Motorcycle rider caught speeding up to 200km/h on Kwinana Freeway put behind bars

A man with a lengthy history of driving offences will serve 18-months behind bars after he was caught driving at 200km/h on Kwinana Freeway. Daniel Peter Johnson, 29, appeared via video link before Rockingham Magistrates Court on Friday, pleading guilty to one count of no authority to drive, one count of used an unlicensed vehicle and one count of reckless driving. Prosecutor Sen. Const. Mick Fallows told the court that on March 22 at 11.24pm, Johnson was driving northbound on the Kwinana Freeway when the police air wing recorded his motorcycle reaching speeds between 180km/h and 200km/h. Police were directed to a nearby petrol station where they arrested Johnson, before he told police: “I wasn’t going that quick, was I?” It was also revealed in court Johnson had his driver’s licence disqualified in 2017 and had no authority to drive at the time of the incident. He had also been subject to a suspended term of imprisonment at the time. Lawyer Deearnah Truran-Fowler said she would be seeking that the matter go before the drug court as Johnson had struggled with drug use for a number of years, which on this occasion contributed to the offending. “He had received a phone call from his partner and couldn’t make sense of her at all because of how upset she was,” Ms Truran-Fowler said. “He then made the poor decision to hop on the motorcycle to attend her address and make sure she was OK. “When he was on the freeway he noticed the airwing pursuit and that’s when he pulled into the petrol station and waited on the ground for police.” Ms Truran-Fowler said Johnson’s former partner, whom he shares children with, also struggled with drug use and that this was one of several occasions when he had attended her address to offer assistance. “He wants to make changes, he’s never really had the opportunity to do, seek assistance as he has been a sentenced prisoner and unable to engage in services while in custody,” she said. Magistrate Steven Malley rejected the submissions to have the matters heard before the drug court, based on what he labelled a lengthy history of similar offending and breach of a suspended term. “He’s a grown man and knows he needed help, he waited for the door to click,” Mr Malley said. “He was subject to a suspended term of imprisonment and this type of offending just makes a mockery of that order.” Johnson was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with eligibility of parole and was handed a permanent driving disqualification.