A YOUNG Wigton man spent a month in hospital with serious injuries after his illegal attempt to perform a motorbike 'wheelie' went horrifically wrong.

Taylor Newall, 23, will need further surgery to correct some of his injuries, sustained when he lost control of the Yamaha motorbike and it fell on top of him.

He was originally charged with dangerous driving, but the prosecution accepted his plea to the less charge of driving without due care and attention, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Newall, of Reeds Lane, Wigton, also admitted driving while over the prescribed limit for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine breakdown product.

Andrew Evans, prosecuting, said police were called to the scene of the accident in West Street, Wigton, on June 2 last year, arriving to find the defendant lying on the ground badly injured.

Parts of the damaged motorbike were lying around him. “The defendant had been attempting to pull a wheelie and lost control of the bike,” said Mr Evans. “He was extensively injured and taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.”

At the time of the accident, the court heard, Newall had no driving licence, though he was never charged with that offence.

Jeff Smith, defending, told the court: “He should not have ridden that motorbike. He nearly killed himself.

“After the motorbike broke free, it landed on his head. He spent a month in the Royal Victoria Infirmary.” The defendant was neither a criminal nor a nuisance offender.

“He was just, on that day, an absolute idiot,” said Mr Smith.

“He will carry on paying for that for a long period of time. He’s going to require further surgery; and it’s going to cost further problems and pain. It will take a long time for Taylor Newall to pick himself up again.”

The defendant was having ongoing and regular treatment at the hospital in Newcastle, added Mr Smith.

Judge Nicholas Barker told the defendant: “On June 2 last year, you got on that motorbike and you had no licence and you had taken cocaine.

"You were seen, when officers examined the CCTV, to be pulling a wheelie on this motorbike, which you then of course lost control of. It landed on top of you and it broke up.

"You were severely injured.”

He banned the defendant from driving for 21 months and, as punishment, imposed a six week 8pm to 6am curfew. The defendant’s licence will be appropriately endorsed.