A SPEEDING driver who was caught on camera smiling as he reached 141mph has been disqualified.

James Linton, 24, was driving an Audi R8 on the A27 at Hangleton when a Safety Camera Team operator from the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership saw him on April 7.

He was seen undertaking a vehicle at 86mph as he approached an exit slip road for Devil’s Dyke on the eastbound carriageway at 6.45pm.

Two minutes later, he was seen travelling in the opposite direction on the westbound carriageway, where an officer measured his speed at 141mph.

Officers from Sussex Police’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU) located Linton the next day when he was driving in Warren Road, Worthing, and he was arrested.

In custody it was revealed he had previously been issued with a section 59 warning that his vehicle could be seized after he was seen driving in an anti-social manner on the same day he purchased the black Audi for nearly £90,000 on March 7.

He admitted that he was the driver at the time of the offences, but said he could not remember speeding.

Linton, a self-employed financial stockbroker, of Brighton Road, Worthing, was charged with dangerous driving and with two counts of speeding at 86mph and 141mph on the A27.

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At Worthing Magistrates’ Court on July 11 he admitted the charges. He was given a two-year driving disqualification and a 12-week suspended prison sentence.

The court ordered him to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, ten rehabilitation activity requirement sessions (RAR), and pay a £128 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

He was told he must complete an extended retest before he is allowed to reapply for his driving licence.

PC Stephen Watson from the Roads Policing Unit said: “Linton showed a complete disregard for other motorists as he reached dangerous speeds on the A27.

“Our speed camera showed him smiling in the vehicle, but he was not as cheerful when he was stopped the next day and asked to hand over the keys.

“This case demonstrates our determination to catch motorists who flout the law. Linton put his own safety and the safety of other road users at risk with his reckless driving.”