A teenager has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after reaching speeds of 180mph on his motorbike during a half-hour police chase.

Marian Vasilica Dragoi, 19, went through multiple red lights, mounted pavements and rode on the wrong side of the road while trying to escape.

Officers noticed his bike, which turned out to have a false number plate, at around 9.20pm on 20 May in the Wood Green area of north London, when it cut across their path.

Dragoi, of Teynton Terrace, Haringey, was clocked at 70mph in a 20mph zone before hitting speeds of 180mph once he got on the M1.

Police on the ground lost sight of him, but a National Police Air Service helicopter continued to trace the bike.

After travelling through Buckinghamshire and into Bedfordshire, he rode the wrong way along the motorway’s hard shoulder to enter a service station.

Officers caught up to him before he could refuel, where they safely stopped the motorbike on the station’s forecourt and arrested him.

Police enquiries later revealed the motorbike was not stolen, but Dragoi did not hold an appropriate licence or insurance to drive it.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, driving a motor vehicle without a licence and driving without insurance at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

He will be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on 14 January.

Arresting officer Sergeant Tony McGovern said: “At one point of the pursuit, Dragoi went straight through every single red light he was confronted with, rode on the wrong side of the road in his attempts to get away and even mounted pavements.”

He said Dragoi “continued to ride in a dangerous manner” throughout the pursuit and only had a police helicopter tracking him, without any police vehicles on the ground anywhere near him.

“He failed to stop for police and continued to put his own life and the lives of other road users, as well as innocent pedestrians, into serious danger,” he said.

“Our highly trained Operation Venice officers are out on the streets of London every day fighting moped, scooter and motorbike enabled crimes and I hope this case acts as a deterrent to anyone considering to display such erratic behaviour on our roads.”

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