Terrifying moment biker hits 178mph on cross-country ride that ended when his brother-in-law was killed in road crash

By ROBERT FOLKER, NEWS REPORTER Published: 13:39, 11 July 2026 | Updated: 13:39, 11 July 2026 A motorcyclist who reached 178mph on a cross-country ride before a crash which killed his brother-in-law has been jailed for 15 months. Terrifying footage shows the moment Lewis Baker, 35, sped through the country lanes through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, reaching what is believed to have been the second-highest speed ever for a motorcyclist convicted in the UK.  Mechanic Baker and his brother-in-law, Jason Wallis, 31, were riding identical Yamaha R1 bikes when they crashed into a car they were trying to pass on the A421 on September 9, 2023. Wallis was attempting to undertake the car while Baker, who broke a thigh bone, was trying to overtake the car. Baker's GoPro records the moment he and his sister's husband hit the car while travelling at 120mph in Tingewick. The footage also shows Baker wheelying past three at 106mph on the wrong side of the road and racing through a red light at 123 mph. Other images show him overtaking into incoming traffic over double white lines and in many cases, somehow squeezing through gaps between cars. Prosecutor David Jones said the pair hit speeds of up to 178mph and that their bikes had been fitted with 'flipping' number plates to avoid detection by speed cameras. Terrifying footage shows the moment Lewis Baker, 35, sped through the country lanes through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, reaching what is believed to have been the second-highest speed ever for a motorcyclist convicted in the UK Mechanic Baker and his brother-in-law, Jason Wallis, 31, were riding identical Yamaha R1 bikes when they crashed into a car they were trying to pass on the A421 on 9 September 2023 Wallis's widow, Nikki, who is Baker's sister, tearfully told the court her husband was an 'experienced motorcyclist' but added: 'He was an accident waiting to happen'. Pictured: Nikki and her husband Wallis It meant that at the push of a button, the plate would rotate to show a blank number plate to speed cameras, then flip back when they had passed it to avoid traffic convictions. Judge Jonathan Cooper jailed Baker, of Milton Keynes, for 15 months and banned him from the roads for 10 years after Baker admitted dangerous driving on the A421 dual carriageway in 2023. The judge said: 'The place for driving at extremely high speeds is a race-track and not public roads. You both rode in the exactly the same fashion - as bad as it could be.' Baker himself stated to the courts that he had driven like a 'menace'.  The prosecutor said Baker had no previous convictions for speeding and appeared to have a clean licence, but Judge Cooper said: 'Perhaps due to number plate flipping?'. While being interviewed by police, Baker told officers he had driven in a similar way '100 times before'. The court heard in June that Baker had been cleared of causing his brother-in-law's death by dangerous driving after it was ruled neither's riding was influencing the other. Wallis's widow, Nikki, who is Baker's sister, tearfully told the court her husband was an 'experienced motorcyclist' but added: 'He was an accident waiting to happen'. Wallis of Milton Keynes, worked as an engineer for Nissan and was said to be a 'far better and more experienced rider' than Baker. Prosecutor David Jones said the pair hit speeds of up to 178mph and that their bikes had been fitted with 'flipping' number plates to avoid detection by speed cameras A 186mph Yamaha R1 similar to the one which jailed biker Baker and Wallis were driving Senior police investigator Philip Hanham of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: 'Baker's driving showed total disregard to the law or to other road users safety. 'His riding was appalling and the worst I have seen on a motorbike in all my 30 years as a police officer and investigator and dangerous driving can change lives forever. 'He was filming his dangerous driving with the intention of sharing it with others and showed intent to ride in this manner and was rightly sentenced for it today.' The previous highest speed recorded for a convicted dangerous driver was Adam Campion, 26, who was jailed after being caught doing 189mph on a stolen bike. Campion, like biker Baker, was caught and convicted thanks to recording himself on his GoPro and was sent to prison for 21 months at Nottingham Crown Court in 2018.