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Police condemn 156mph BMW driver

Police have condemned the 'blatant disregard' for safety shown by a man who was caught driving his BMW at 156mph with a mobile phone at his ear.

Ronald Klos, whose original acquittal was overturned, has been banned for a year and fined £3,000.

Fife Constabulary said it was the highest speed recorded by their traffic cameras.

Chief inspector Joe Swanston said Klos' type of driving was 'inherently dangerous' and risked lives. "No one driving on any road would anticipate being in close proximity to a vehicle doing 156 mph, which is in fact more than twice the maximum national speed limit.

"This on its own is appalling enough but this driver was holding a mobile phone to his ear, this posed an additional and significant danger," he said.

Klos, an amateur racing driver, was filmed in his BMW M3 CSL on the A92 in Fife between Kirkcaldy West and Redhouse in May last year.

He was originally acquitted on a technicality but the Crown appealed.

He denied the original charges but was fined £2,500 for driving-related offences and £500 for failing to disclose who was at the wheel.

When he first appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Klos denied he was driving the vehicle but sheriff Paul Arthurson refused to accept that. However, the sheriff did accept his claim that he had not received the required papers for the prosecution and he was found not guilty.

The outcome was challenged by the Crown, and three judges at the Justiciary Appeal Court in Edinburgh sent the case back to the sheriff with a direction to find Klos guilty of culpable and reckless conduct.

The judges said they suspected 156mph was one of the highest speeds ever recorded on a Scottish road.