Speed camera clocked Northampton driver at 125mph on notorious stretch of A43

Blessing Bhebe, aged 32, was behind the wheel of a BMW snapped by Northamptonshire Police mobile speed cameras on the Corby bypass at 7.06am on April 24, 2024. The legal limit on the dual carriageway road is 70mph.

Bhebe, of Clarence Avenue pleaded guilty using the single justice procedure, where cases are dealt with by a single magistrate using paperwork without requiring a court appearance. He was fined £600 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £240 plus £90 towards prosecution costs and also disqualified from driving for 14 days.

In February 2024, Magistrates slapped a three-month ban on another Northampton driver, Vasile Strestian, who was clocked at 130mph on the Corby bypass. And in 2023, 62-year-old Christopher Debono was ordered to pay nearly £1,500 after being caught speeding at 162mph on the same stretch of road. Debono, also of Northampton, was disqualified from driving for six months — the maximum ban magistrates can impose for speeding.

Following that case, Northamptonshire Police’s Safer Roads Team manager Matthew O’Connell said: “Excess speed is one of the fatal five road risks, vastly increasing the chances of a serious collision, and the consequences of a crash at over 160mph do not bear thinking about.

“Our mobile enforcement vans are deployed across Northamptonshire to detect motoring offences at sites where we have data to show there is an increased risk to road users. Everyone has a right to get home unharmed, and we are committed to improving road safety across our county by taking action against irresponsible drivers.”