Lincoln - sentencing for drugs, possession of an extendable baton and traffic offences

Arkadiusz Malinowski was riding his Talaria electric motocross motorcycle (pictured) when he was spotted by one of our officers on Dixon Street, Lincoln.

Malinowski, who was wearing a balaclava and dark clothing, had overtaken a line of queuing traffic at the junction with Boultham Park Road, before stopping his bike in front of a white Toyota car.

During the incident on December 16 last year our officer, who was riding an unmarked motorcycle, noticed that Malinowski’s bike had no registration number, no rear lights, and no indicators.

Based on the officer’s experience he believed a traditional request to stop the rider could have led to a dangerous pursuit. As a result he pulled up to the offside front of Malinowski and prevented him from riding off - before making clear that he was a police officer and instructing Malinowski to get off his motorcycle.

However, Malinowski aggressively resisted and tried to ride off, which resulted in him, his bike and our officer all falling to the left side. Malinowski continued to resist arrest, before several members of the public helped our officer to detain him while further officers arrived.

Malinowski was searched and found to be in possession of cannabis, a class B controlled drug and an extendable baton, the sort issued to police officers. He was arrested for several offences.

When appearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 29 January, Malinowski, aged 21, of Craven Street, Lincoln, pleaded guilty to charges of possessing an offensive weapon, possessing cannabis, driving otherwise in accordance with a driving licence and having no insurance.

He was sentenced to six points on his licence, an unpaid work order to complete 100 hours, and a rehabilitation activity community order of up to 50 days. A depravation order was made for the extendable baton while the cannabis was forfeited and will be destroyed.

Inspector Jason Baxter, Roads Policing, said: “We know there are lots of riders who use electric bikes safely and responsibly. We also know there are a growing number of riders who use this sort of bikes/motorbike to commit crimes such as stealing mobile phones.

“This bike was not an electric bike - it was a motorcycle with a top speed of 47 mph. It looks like an electric bike but requires a motorcycle licence of A1 or higher.

“I am exceptionally grateful for the help given to our officer by members of the public. It takes courage to step in and help and it’s likely by doing so they prevented our officer from being injured; thank you.”
Electric motorcycles are an emerging method for criminals in the transportation of drugs and weapons relating to county lines drug dealing, and other areas of criminality such as robbery. Riders routinely fail to stop for police, ride dangerously on pavements and put members of the public at significant risk of harm.