“It was a Sunday. There were kids in the park.” Illegally riding his motorbike in Darlington, Karl Burnside reached speeds of 80mph when he sped away from police motorcycle officers. During a lengthy pursuit, the 20-year-old ran red lights, rode on the wrong side of the road, and entered a public park filled with unsuspecting pedestrians. When the officers briefly lost sight of him, Burnside crashed his bike into a river. Freezing cold and unable to speak coherently, he was quickly found nearby and arrested by Darlington Neighbourhood Police Team officers. He was taken to hospital to receive treatment for hypothermia, before being charged with several driving offences including dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, and driving without a licence or insurance. Appearing at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court last week, Burnside was banned from driving for 12 months, given a community order and fine, and ordered to carry out rehabilitation activity and 300 hours of unpaid work. Operation Endurance – funded by Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen – is our ongoing campaign to address the harm caused by illegal and antisocial use of motorcycles, using a range of tactics including drone technology. We proactively target offenders with warnings, seizures, and behaviour contracts, gathering intelligence so we can stop their offending.