Letter From The Police!!

moonrakerz

May be of interest:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/09_september/12/inside.shtml

tigtag02

blue_haddock wrote: »

Wouldn't it be refreshing if one day someone actually said i was caught speeding, i was bang to rights and i'm going to take my 3 points and £60 and thats the last we hear of it.

I was caught speeding about 3 years ago

I was gutted and fuming ~ at myself

I was breaking the law, the fine and points were my punishment.

I hope I have restored your faith for a few days

OP ~ a few mph isn't harsh, its speeding

bargepole

Anyone who thinks that by obeying the speed limits, they won't get a fine, is living in cloud cuckoo land.

I’ve been a member of the forums on www.pepipoo.com for 4 years now (under the same username – check out the postings), and in that time I’ve been zapped three times for alleged speeding. On all three occasions, I declined to pay the £60 Fixed Penalty Notice, and opted to go to court to make them prove their case.

On the first occasion, the CPS failed to produce their witness (camera op) or the videotape, so the case was dismissed and I recovered £130 in costs. The second one didn’t even get into court, as on the day of the hearing, the CPS decided to withdraw the prosecution due to “insufficient evidence”. The third one involved a legal argument about whether the CPS could have an adjournment to prepare their case fully, the magistrates said they’d already had enough time, so another dismissal and £108 costs to me.

So my score is: Fines Paid = £0, Costs Recovered = £238, Points on Licence = none.

I also took on another 21 cases on behalf of some of the drivers at my former employer, and successfully got the case discontinued, or dismissed in court, on 17 of these.

One of these cases involved a driver who was clearly under the 70 limit on a dual carriageway, when the camera op started frantically zig-zagging the beam across the rear of his car until it showed a reading of 85. We forced disclosure of the videotape, and submitted our expert’s analysis to the police and the court.

In court, the Clerk first made a great play of emphasising that if he pleaded guilty now, he’d get a lower fine than if the case continued. We said no dice, and then a red-faced prosecutor stood up and said they couldn’t offer any evidence, as the camera op had “retired from the force”. Case dismissed, full costs to defendant. I still have a copy of this videotape showing just how unreliable their “evidence” can be.

So there you have it, a completely unreliable and unjust system designed to scam drivers out of thousands of pounds based on false assumptions. But, if you’re prepared to fight, you can get justice, and the hours of preparation are all worthwhile when you get into court and see the thunderous look on the faces of the police and prosecutors when the magistrates say “case dismissed!”

tomstickland

I still have a copy of this videotape showing just how unreliable their “evidence” can be.

It'd look great on Youtube.

Rtype

hollydays wrote: »

We only have the OP s word for it that he was hiding.

You say you were "doing what you thought was the correct speed limit",which is somewhat different to saying "I was driving at the correct speed" ,anyway ignorance of the law is no defence.

You say you work closely with the police,I suspect what bugs you more is you think you are therefore owed some sort of deference-you are not.Please tell me you are not neighbourhood watch.

P.S.I speak as someone who has been caught speeding and paid the price,nearly losing my licence so I am not exactly an angel.Accept you have done wrong and move on.

I believe i was doing the correct speed limit (30mph) which is why i am so miffed! If you think for one minute that i believe i am 'owed some sort of deference' as you put it, because i work closely with the police then you really need to get a grip.

I am a firefighter and see exactly what happens when people drive irresponsibly so therefore make sure that i drive sensibly and yes, i'm sure that i sometimes stray over the speed limit, as does everyone no matter how carefull, but in this instance i was doing the correct speed limit!

There are 2 reasons why i am not happy about this letter excluding the facts of the officer hiding round a corner in a pitch black area not wearing any high viz clothing.

1 - 5 months ago i was hit in the rear whilst waiting at some lights, the police spoke to the owner of the van and it turned out somebody else was driving at the time. They then spoke to the driver over the phone, he pretended that he couldn't speak english.
They then wrote me a letter saying that they could not find him and had to end the case as it had lasted for 4 months! Nothing happened to him, i had 2 months off work with bad whiplash and my insurance went up by nearly £200!!!

2 - At work we are always requesting the attendance of the police on certain jobs and we get the same reply 99% of the time "there are no untis available in the area" or "there are no units available for at least 1 hour" only to be told exactly the same thing 1/2 an hour later! And then being accused of speeding by a cop with nothing better to do an a sat night in a quiet part of town where there are never any accidents (but just an ideal place to hide with a speed gun!).

3 - There is no evidence at all to say that i was speeding or even in that area at the time, the letter simply says that i was exceeding the 30mph speed limit.

Thankyou to all those people who have been extremely helpfull, and to those who just like to post nasty comments for absolutely no reason, have you got nothing better to do with your time or does it make you feel better?

I am simply asking for advice on a matter that i feel i have been unjustly accused of!
I am not trying to get out of a fine as if i were guilty of speeding, i would simply just accept it, but i am not!!

I have never seen or even heard of one of these letters so i just want advice as to what the police are intending to do as it says at the bottom of the letter "It does NOT necessarily mean that a prosecution will follow."

laurz121

If I were youi'd fill the form in, tell them who was driving and include a note saying 'i do not believe I was exceding the speed limit at the time stated and would like to request evidence that I was'.

If you was speeding then they'll have evidence and you should accept that you made a mistake, was speeding and take the fine/points on the chin. If you wasn't speeding then the evidence will show that and you should then fight the case.

The placing of the officer, reason you was driving, lack of hi vis (walkers don't wear hi vis when they are hit by speeding cars) and all the other things that you mention in your original post are not relevant, the only thing that is is whether or not you were breaking the law by speeding so fill in the form, ask to see the evidence and then decide what to do based on that evidence.

The one thing that I do urge, is that you don't go the way of one poster on here who is proud of the fact that he 'got off' with it 3 times and has 'gotten off' another 17 people. Legally it may be possible, morally it is disgusting. Yes fight the case if you was not speeding but if you were (without exceptional circumstances) then just accept it and learn from it.

Wig

laurz121 wrote: »

If I were youi'd fill the form in, tell them who was driving and include a note saying 'i do not believe I was exceding the speed limit at the time stated and would like to request evidence that I was'.

If you was speeding then they'll have evidence and you should accept that you made a mistake, was speeding and take the fine/points on the chin. If you wasn't speeding then the evidence will show that and you should then fight the case.

Only problem with your plan is that they are not obliged to divulge the evidence (of how fast you were driving) unless and untill you declare you wish to dispute the case, and that means "in court" once you have decided to fight the case you cannot back out after viewing the evidence. Unless it is offered to you by the CPS.

In any event there would be no evidence in this case except the word of the laser operative. It was a handheld unit and therefore would not take video or pictures.

The one thing that I do urge, is that you don't go the way of one poster on here who is proud of the fact that he 'got off' with it 3 times and has 'gotten off' another 17 people. Legally it may be possible, morally it is disgusting. Yes fight the case if you was not speeding but if you were (without exceptional circumstances) then just accept it and learn from it.

No, what is morally disgusting is that we (the public) are bullied into paying fines, for alledged offences detected with dodgy equipment, sometimes with no evidence other than the word of a single cop, and if there is evidence we are not allowed to see it unless we decide to fight our case in court.

piggeh

Wig wrote: »

Only problem with your plan is that they are not obliged to divulge the evidence (of how fast you were driving) unless and untill you declare you wish to dispute the case, and that means "in court" once you have decided to fight the case you cannot back out after viewing the evidence. Unless it is offered to you by the CPS.

In any event there would be no evidence in this case except the word of the laser operative. It was a handheld unit and therefore would not take video or pictures.

No, what is morally disgusting is that we (the public) are bullied into paying fines, for alledged offences detected with dodgy equipment, sometimes with no evidence other than the word of a single cop, and if there is evidence we are not allowed to see it unless we decide to fight our case in court.

Indeed. There is a massive difference between protesting because the equipment was uncalibrated and inaccurate, and protesting because you were speeding and got caught.

Even if you contest it, magistrates are not legally qualified and have little knowledge of the more complex workings of the law and many will simply find you guilty on the spot. At which point you have to spend even more time appealling at the crown court just to get justice. It's all tied up so it greatly benefits the cash raising motives that many of these speed traps seem to be set up for.

BB37

blue_haddock wrote: »

Wouldn't it be refreshing if one day someone actually said i was caught speeding, i was bang to rights and i'm going to take my 3 points and £60 and thats the last we hear of it.

I was caught speeding about 6 years ago. My own fault, I was doing 42 in what I thought was a 40 limit. It was a road I used regularly and the speed limit had previously changed to 30. I hadn't realised and admitted my error, I did get 3 points and a £60 fine. It has made me much more aware of what speed I am driving, and I also check the speed signs on a regular basis now!

ohreally

peediedj wrote: »

when we stayed in the orkney islands we had a private road run down the side of our house(it had 4-5 houses down it and our garage,we all clubed together to get it tarred)the police used to hide down there and point the speed gun at taxis and cars coming in from the airport as it was a lnog straight road and drivers used to speed down it,1 driver contested it and won as he argued the police were on private property without permission using the gun

In Scots law, don't the police need corroborative evidence?