HE was a menace to pedestrians and other road users alike when he persistently flouted speed limits in Southampton.

Now a reckless biker caught speeding 15 times in just two months has been forced off the road with a driving ban – but only for 12 months.

Dean Stockwell, 23, was snapped by cameras on 14 separate occasions in the city, but police were unable to trace him because he rode without a front number plate.

But the rogue rider was finally identified when he was snared by an eagle-eyed police officer in a camera van in Eastleigh.

Magistrates in Southampton were forced to hear the case against him in his absence after he failed to show up for his trial last August.

Stockwell, formerly of Southampton Road, Eastleigh, but now of no fixed address, went through a pair of speed cameras in St Mary’s Avenue and Kingsway in Southampton 14 times between March 7 and April 30, 2012.

On each occasion he was travelling between 40mph and 55mph in a 30mph zone.

But he was able to evade the law because the images taken on forward- facing cameras revealed his number plate was missing.

Officers eventually caught up with him on May 4 last year when he was caught speeding at 45mph on the A335 Leigh Road in Eastleigh.

The court heard a statement by PC Paul Duncan in which he said he was sitting in a police camera van and was keeping an eye out for Stockwell’s bike.

He recognised it by its various features including the registration and the rider by what he was wearing.

Stockwell had admitted the Eastleigh speeding charge by post but denied the other 14 charges.

However, magistrates found him guilty of all charges after deciding that the same motorbike was used and that Stockwell had been riding it on each occasion.

Now Stockwell has been banned from driving for a year, fined £180 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15 by magistrates in Southampton.

He must take a test before his licence is returned.

A spokeswoman for road safety charity Brake called for tougher sentences for repeat offenders.

“It is shocking to hear of someone repeatedly flouting the law and causing enormous risk to the public,” she said.

“People who choose to speed are demonstrating a reckless approach to driving that can have devastating consequences for other road users and themselves.

“We want to see stronger sentences for drivers and motorcyclists who repeatedly offend and put lives in danger.”

Lorna Lee, spokeswoman for the AA, which runs Hampshire Driver Awareness Training scheme AA Drive Tech, said: “No one should think they are above obeying speed limits and persistently breaking them shows a continued disregard for other road users.

“Speed limits are there for a reason.

However the limit isn’t a target, even if you are within the limit you’ve got to drive to the road conditions. You have increasing chances of being involved in a crash and it’s really important for your own safety, and everyone else’s, that you don’t break them.”