Help wrongly accused of using mobile phone whilst driving

madmax2

Hi everyone just wondered if anyone could offer me some advice. In October 2006 my partner whilst driving was flagged down by a police officer and wrongly accused of using his mobile phone whilst driving. He naturally was very angry and explained to the officer that he hadn't been using it (he had actually been rubbing his ear). He even showed the officer his phone with the events of incoming and outgoing calls to prove his innocence. The officer was quite arrogant and wasn't having any of it. He issued him with a fixed penalty notice. We sent the notice back requesting for the matter to be dealt with in the court as we were not paying as my partner is innocent. That was almost 5 months ago and we never heard anything back until yesterday he got a court summons through with the officer's statement claiming that he saw my partner using his phone which is a total lie. Were both very anxious about this and wondered if anyone else had been in a similar situation?

Fran

Well on The Bill they always seem to be able to trace calls. Don't know if that's always the case. I would think (only guess) that it would be up to the copper to prove that partner was using phone. Can you get a log of all the calls around that time?

Lighthouse_2

Did you think to copy down the incoming and outgoing calls from the phone that evening? Because if not, you will be stuck with following Torgwen's advice and asking your provider for the evidence. Absolutely the best of luck with the case - it sounds outrageous they are pursuing it!

Ms_Chocaholic

I am aware that when Ian Huntley was investigated re murder of Jessica and Holly, they knew that he was in a certain area at a specific area because his mobile phone signal had been picked up by a mast in that area. The Police will be able to check this and I imagine what calls were made to/from the phone.

skybluesaver

What a nightmare! I was amazed to see a police officer in my town eating an apple whilst he was driving a "Caught on camera" van.
It stinks of pure hypocrisy.
Your partners mobile phone network can verify all incoming & outgoing calls as well as text messages. Involve them & fight it all the way.
It angers me how the Police can try & stitch up people whilst knife & gun crime is going through the roof in this country.

madmax2

Thanks for all your prompt replies. I have rung the mobile company namely 3 Network and unfortunately they are telling me that they don't keep a log of incoming calls only outgoing calls which we have anyway on the itemised bill. I'm still trying to pursue though as I was sure they kept a log of incoming as well as outgoing calls. Because its 5 months ago (October 2006) the phone history which showed all incoming, outgoing and missed calls is no longer there. This is what my partner was trying to demonstrate to the officer to prove his offence. In the officer's statment he says "I don't know a lot about mobile phones and for all I know he could have been erasing the memory". This is more annoying as if he doesn't know anything about mobile phones he shouldn't be responsbile for issuing members of the public with tickets relating to mobile phones! He also says my partner's phone was black when in fact it is silver. I am just hoping that we can prove his innocence.

BarGin

Surely it's not up to your partner to prove his innocence but the police officer's job to prove his guilt?

BarGin

valera_2

[he had actually been rubbing his ear]

it sounds a bit strange as you wold not normally drive a vehicle holding a mobile phone in your hand (unless you want to make a phone call or answer the phone). in any casy rubbing an ear with a mobile phone while driving is technically using a mobile while driving.
from the lawer's point of view.

jockettuk

valera wrote: »

[he had actually been rubbing his ear]

it sounds a bit strange as you wold not normally drive a vehicle holding a mobile phone in your hand (unless you want to make a phone call or answer the phone). in any casy rubbing an ear with a mobile phone while driving is technically using a mobile while driving.
from the lawer's point of view.

no mention of holding his phone whilst rubbing his ear.. think the point here is that he held his hand up to his ear as police officer was passing therefore thinking he must be on his phone.. this wont be the first or last time whe heard something like this

I would contact mabey something like watchdog see if they heard of this as normally they hear of lots of things but dont broadcast it ..

Kislaya

A few words of advice from an ex-solicitor (and by the way I hate lawyers) but I do not claim to have specialist knowledge of this particular subject:

You probably already know the following:

If your partner accepts a roadside fixed penalty notice, he will receive 3 points on his licence and a fine of £60.

If the case goes to court, in addition to points, he could face discretionary disqualification on top of a maximum fine of £1,000 (or £2,500 in the case of drivers of buses/coaches and goods vehicles).

Therefore it is clear that there is a considerable risk involved in taking the case to court. However:

1. A court may recognise that someone who is innocent is prepared to take this risk. Your partner should point out to the court (and in any defence documents he prepares) that he is aware of the different potential penalties as detailed above, but that as he is innocent he is prepared to vigorously defend the case.

2. It may help your partner if he has a clean driving licence, history and record. Or at the very least, if he can show that he would not be automatically disqualified by the addition of 3 points on his licence, i.e. that he has less than 8 points already (obviously the less the better). This is not a crucial point, it may simply be a useful factor for the court to consider if it is in your partner's favour. (Your partner should try to show that his driving status, livelihood etc, would not have been affected by accepting the original fixed penalty notice.)

3. It may help if your partner points out to the court (and in any defence documents he prepares) that he is aware of the legal requirement not to allow any distractions (including the use of hands-free phones, eating at the wheel etc) to affect his driving and the legal requirement to have proper control of a vehicle at all times. Perhaps a clean licence, driving history and insurance claims record may help in this respect.

4. If it goes to court, your partner's phone records can be checked to determine whether he was using his phone at the relevant time. It appears that you and your partner have already taken reasonable and sufficient steps to obtain a log of all incoming, outgoing and missed calls at the relevant time. Your partner should point this out to the court and in any defence documents. Beyond this the burden and onus of proof falls on the prosecution to make its case against your partner. In other words, the policeman will have to provide sufficient evidence to prove his side of the story.

On a separate note, it also angers me that the police seem to allocate their precious few resources in fighting extremely low-level 'crime' against largely law-abiding citizens. Seems like wrong priorities when violent and other serious crimes are spiralling out of control. I think it is just easier for the police to focus their attentions on generally law-abiding motorists. And the criminals who do not insure/register/tax their car continue to fall under the radar and cause havoc on the roads..

Good luck and let me know if you have any further questions.

1882

No record of incoming calls? I'll bet they'd find them pretty damn sharp if it was terrorist related and special branch requested the info!