James Phillips, 22, of Southmead, used his 50cc Piaggio moped to try and escape from police through a housing estate in Bristol, but mostly only used a speed of 15 mph.
Farah Rashid, defending, said: “He panicked and behaved in a really stupid way.
“He was going to get caught. There was no excessive speed. It was only a matter of time that police would arrest him and he stopped voluntarily after some distance.
“It was, perhaps, more stupid than dangerous under the circumstances.”
Phillips was handed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work as well as a thinking skills programme.
He was also disqualified from driving for three years, ordered to take an extended driving test and pay a victim surcharge of £100.
After the court case one officer said: “You normally expect a bit of drama when the helicopter’s up and you hear there’s a chase on.
“But this was more like a guided tour. On that moped he was going nowhere fast.”
Man tries to escape police on 15mph moped
