"The
former head of a police force driving school has been banned from driving after admitting speeding at 118mph on the M9 motorway near Falkirk.
Paul Gee, 48, who
recently retired from Durham Constabulary,..."
I think the things I've highlighted in bold are key factors here.
Once again, they claim it's training/familiarisation, but they're unable to produce a paper trail showing a senior officer granting permission for the give driver/vehicle/time and hence it cannot reasonably be considered training at all. Do they really think the magistrates are dim enough to believe that whenever they speed off duty it's because they're actually concientious and working off the clock, or is it just that like most of us, they speed in their own time?
The last minute plea change (ostensibly to get leniency) smacks of guilt too.