A local man was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison yesterday (6 Feb) after pleading guilty to Dangerous Driving.

Moncif El Anaya, 21, of Naval Hospital Road, was sentenced at the Magistrates’ Court.

He was also disqualified from driving for a year.

He received no separate penalty for No Insurance, No Driving Licence and four other counts of Dangerous Driving that he pleaded guilty to during the same incident.

The court heard that at around 3:30am on Sunday 11th June 2023, El Anaya was driving a moped at speed along Glacis Road with two pillion passengers on the back of the bike – one of whom was not wearing a helmet. El Anaya had neither insurance nor a driver’s licence.

An RGP car spotted the motorcycle and activated the blue lights to pursue the vehicle, but El Anaya accelerated at speed onto Winston Churchill Avenue, taking corners in a dangerous manner.

Police followed the motorcyclist, but he continued riding at speed onto Devil’s Tower Road, taking a sudden sharp turn into Laguna Estate, almost causing the rear passenger to fall off.

El Anaya then drove around Laguna Estate against the flow of traffic, almost colliding with a parked police car, before escaping.

Officers conducted a search of the estate and located one of the pillion passengers, who identified El Anaya as the rider of the motorcycle.

El Anaya was then located within a nearby residence and arrested on suspicion of Dangerous Driving and Failing to Stop.

The bike, which did not belong to El Anaya, sustained damage to the brakes, windscreen and exterior plastic.

El Anaya, who has been on remand since last December, was then taken back up to HMP Windmill Hill to finish his sentence.