A biker who overtook dangerously on the Mountain Road has been fined £2,500 and banned for 12 months.

Thomas Stephen Kneale said that a large bush had obscured his view before he performed the manoeuvre.

The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to an offence of dangerous driving and was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £800, due to having initially denied the offence and work being done on a pre-trial review.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court how Kneale, who lives at Gladstone Avenue in Ramsey, was riding his Suzuki motorbike on the A18 Mountain Road near to the Les Graham Memorial on July 25 at 7pm.

A witness who recorded the incident on dashcam footage said that he was overtaken by Kneale at high speed while another vehicle was coming in the opposite direction.

A collision was narrowly avoided and the incident was reported after footage was posted on Facebook.

Kneale was arrested on August 5 and during a police interview he gave no account of what had happened.

In court, Kneale initially pleaded not guilty but then later changed his plea to guilty.

Defence advocate Jim Travers entered a basis of plea on behalf of his client, in which Kneale said he felt the road was clear when he began the manoeuvre, but he said his vision had been obscured by a large bush.

He accepted that, at that moment, his riding was dangerous, but added that he had steered the bike out of trouble.

Mr Travers asked for credit to be given for Kneale’s guilty plea, although it had been late in the day.

‘He had looked ahead and judged the road was clear, but unfortunately it wasn’t,’ said the advocate.

‘His sight was partially blocked by the bush. There was a near miss and he is remorseful for his conduct.’

Mr Travers said that Kneale wanted to pass a letter of apology to other drivers who were on the road at the time, and submitted that it was a low-level dangerous driving offence, with no collision, injuries or damage, and very brief in duration.

The court heard that Kneale’s last offence was for speeding was 12 years ago.

A probation report assessed him as a low risk of reoffending and low risk of harm to others.

Magistrates chair Belinda Pilling told Kneale: ‘You were extremely fortunate no-one was injured.’

Kneale was also ordered to retake his test at the end of his ban and will pay the fine and prosecution costs at a rate of £100 per month.