Gavin Wei: near-death accident punishment enough for lead-footed Preston speedster

A speeding motorbike rider is now “25 per cent metal” after a horror accident left him in a drug-induced coma for weeks.

A Preston speedster was punished enough after enduring a horrific car crash, a court has heard. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

A motorbike rider caught doing 40km/h over the limit in Preston was involved in a horror car accident months later, a court has heard.

Gavin Wei, 26, A Singaporean national living in Australia on a student visa, was caught on August 2020 hooning on his red BMW motorbike 104 km/h on Bell St, Preston, where the speed limit is 60 km/h.

The Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court heard on Monday that Wei told police he “didn’t realise he was going that fast,” and elected to take the matter to court after being fined $700 and having his licence suspended for six months on the spot.

Wei, who the court heard arrived in Australia from Singapore in 2015, was also pulled over for driving 38km/h over the limit on the Tullamarine Freeway in Strathmore just before midnight on Christmas Eve, 2019.

Police said that they detected Wei travelling at 118 km/h on the section of the freeway between Bulla Rd and Bell St, where the limit is 80 km/h.

The court was told that Wei told police he was “sorry,” and that he wasn’t aware that he was travelling that fast.

Hassam Hamka, for Wei, told the court on Monday that his client suffered catastrophic injuries months after he was pulled over for speeding in August 2020.

Mr Hamka said a van did an illegal U-turn and “effectively T-boned” Wei, leaving him in a drug-induced coma for three weeks.

Wei shattered his collarbone and wrists, as well as suffering open fractures in both legs.

“It has essentially left him 25 per cent metal,” Mr Hamka told the court.

Magistrate Stella Stuthridge said the accident and recovery had “overtaken” Wei’s life as she handed down a three-month good behaviour bond.

“I don’t think you will ever speed again,” Ms Stuthridge said, adding that “I hope your recovery goes well.”