A BUSINESSMAN caught at the highest speed ever recorded on a Dorset road has been banned from driving for three months.

Daniel Sweeney-Hutt was caught motoring along the Puddletown Bypass in his Porsche 911 at 155 miles per hour. Police used a handheld speed gun at the roadside to snare the 29-year-old.

His speed means he was travelling at more than double the 70mph limit.

The incident took place in March and yesterday, Monday, he appeared at Poole Magistrates’ Court where he admitted speeding on the dual carriageway.

Sweeney-Hutt, of Moriconium Quay, Lake Avenue, Hamworthy, was fined £1,000 for the offence. He will also be banned from driving and will have to pay a victim surcharge of £100.

A further charge of driving dangerously was withdrawn by the CPS.

Magistrates heard Sweeney-Hutt had been driving towards Dorchester on a ‘quiet evening’ when the ‘roads were close to empty’.

The officer who had been waiting at the roadside with a speed gun said he could hear the Porsche coming from some distance. However, he was “stunned” when the reading flashed up, it was heard.

He then pursued the defendant, pulling him over a little way up the road.

Sweeney-Hutt said he hadn’t realised how fast he’d been travelling. He also claimed he didn’t realise his car could travel at 155mph.

Lee Turner, prosecuting, said: “The device recorded a speed of 155 mph at a distance of 19 metres.

“It was a quiet evening and there were no other cars around in either direction.

“The officer was satisfied that the reading was correct and therefore pursued him.

“He was pulled over and told the police that he did not know his car could go that fast.”

The court heard that the defendant runs a business installing solar panels. The company employs 18 people.

Sweeney-Hutt told the court the incident was “stupid” and an “error of judgement”.

Kingsleigh Viollet, mitigating, said defendant needs his car in order to run his business. “This was stupid and he accepts that it was stupid but it was a mistake,” the barrister said.

“He is a man of impeccable character and this is just one mistake in 29 years of life, in which he offers a lot to the community in Dorchester.

“His business is successful and employs 18 people. He also runs a charity working with autistic children.

“He needs his car for these roles and I would ask that the innocent victims are considered before he is banned from driving.”