Last night I should have been hosting the annual Spring Dinner at Wallasey golf club. I would have been kitted out in my red coat as would have been a number of colleague captains from neighbouring clubs. Our new chairman was gracious enough to agree to propose the toast to our guests, and the Royal Liverpool golf club captain would have given the response. It is always a very enjoyable night, and I have no doubt last night would have been equally so. I had even lined up a Doctor Frank Stableford look-alike to attend for photo opportunities before dinner.
Sadly though we are all confined to barracks, and while Have I Got News For You was able to conduct proceedings via Zoom, I suspect trying to run a dinner on the same basis would have proved to be difficult. That said though can you imagine 80 people signing in, their wives or partners serving the same dish to everybody and wine being taken. It could have been revolutionary for the Visionaries.
So we carry on with hopefully everybody still self isolating. The hot weather theat was forecast has not arrived on the Wirral so hopefully people will not mob New Brighton and Hoylake beach. It is in the South of the Country where people must be more careful and look after their neighbours.
Today we also awoke to a new Labour party leader, Sir Kier Starmer. I try not to get political on this blog, and had hoped that the words in his opening speech would allow me to continue that trend. I will support the Government and ask the tricky questions when needed , he said. excellent I thought, only to read today that already he is using the press to highlight serious errors the Government have made over the control of the virus. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and not being part of the decision process does allow you to comment in a way the people in control cannot, but it is so disappointing that he feels he has to wade in now without even waiting until his scheduled meeting later in the week with the PM.
I understand Starmer was the head of the CPS when evidence of Jimmy Saville's misdemeanours were presented to him and Starmer reached the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to proceed. Hindsight again rearing it's head given what happened after Saville died.
How lucky Churchill was during the Second World War that he did not have social media to contend with. How he was able to control or censor fake or bad news to ensure the mood of the Country remained bouyant is something that the current PM has absolutely no chance of doing.
I wonder what the Queen has to say about it all when she addresses the Nation later this evening!
Showing posts with label cps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cps. Show all posts
Sunday, 5 April 2020
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
My day in Court
The long running battle I have with the local police and council concerning their overly aggressive use of speed camera's reached a new level on Friday when I had to appear in court to defend my position not to identify the driver of my car when it was flashed in early January.
The car was travelling at 38 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, the road was an eight lane carriageway, and traffic was minimal. I was seriously annoyed when I found out I had been 'flashed'.
How did I find out? Not by the usual process of summons, but by a policeman visiting the address in late March or early April. He was there to check I lived at the address in question, but when I informed him this was the first I had heard of the offense, he indicate he would resend the summons.
This arrived towards the end of April and I wrote indicating I could not be sure who was driving so could they give me photographic evidence to help? No, they said, the photo is only for car identification. "Oh" I said, "see you in court then".
I was duly summoned and warned that a guilty verdict would result in a 6 point penalty. My in-house legal team attended court three times on my behalf, arguing , that I had not received any notification until April, that I had co-operated to try to identify the driver and that I should be acquitted. The CPS were having none of it, so I was wheeled out in person to face the bench.
Three magistrates sat in judgement, and after my new solicitor put the case for dismissal, the young CPS lawyer asked a few questions and pushed for a guilty verdict. The magistrates then retired to consider their verdict.
After 15 or 20 minutes they returned to find me not guilty and, on application, awarded me and the team costs. So six points avoided, a lot of tax payers money wasted and a vindication of my bloody minded attitude towards the Liverpool road policing policy.
I got flashed again in May this year while taking my mother to hospital for a check up so I still have 3 points on my license, but what I am now exploring is a bolt-on for my sat nav and to see if there is a governor facility on the cruise control. I really must accelerate way from traffic lights at a much slower speed as that seems to be my undoing.
So I am leading 2-0 on contested cases at the moment, and have also used up my driver awareness option. If they had all gone the other way I would be facing a ban with twelve points totted up in less than a year. Compared to London, Liverpool is really not a good place to get around by public transport, but with my old gits bus pass I must try.
The car was travelling at 38 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, the road was an eight lane carriageway, and traffic was minimal. I was seriously annoyed when I found out I had been 'flashed'.
How did I find out? Not by the usual process of summons, but by a policeman visiting the address in late March or early April. He was there to check I lived at the address in question, but when I informed him this was the first I had heard of the offense, he indicate he would resend the summons.
This arrived towards the end of April and I wrote indicating I could not be sure who was driving so could they give me photographic evidence to help? No, they said, the photo is only for car identification. "Oh" I said, "see you in court then".
I was duly summoned and warned that a guilty verdict would result in a 6 point penalty. My in-house legal team attended court three times on my behalf, arguing , that I had not received any notification until April, that I had co-operated to try to identify the driver and that I should be acquitted. The CPS were having none of it, so I was wheeled out in person to face the bench.
Three magistrates sat in judgement, and after my new solicitor put the case for dismissal, the young CPS lawyer asked a few questions and pushed for a guilty verdict. The magistrates then retired to consider their verdict.
After 15 or 20 minutes they returned to find me not guilty and, on application, awarded me and the team costs. So six points avoided, a lot of tax payers money wasted and a vindication of my bloody minded attitude towards the Liverpool road policing policy.
I got flashed again in May this year while taking my mother to hospital for a check up so I still have 3 points on my license, but what I am now exploring is a bolt-on for my sat nav and to see if there is a governor facility on the cruise control. I really must accelerate way from traffic lights at a much slower speed as that seems to be my undoing.
So I am leading 2-0 on contested cases at the moment, and have also used up my driver awareness option. If they had all gone the other way I would be facing a ban with twelve points totted up in less than a year. Compared to London, Liverpool is really not a good place to get around by public transport, but with my old gits bus pass I must try.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
My day in Court
I have already alluded to my dislike of speed camera's. I see them as a money making vehicle much more than an accident prevention measure. I am also proud of my clean driving license.
So imagine my frustration when a fixed penalty notice came through my letter box indicating i had been caught speeding on the M62 motorway. Now the speed I was doing ironically was 62mph in a designated 50mph area designed to encourage cars to slow down as they approach the Rocket intersection at the end of the motorway. Clearly I was decelerating, but not fast enough for Councillor Merseyside and his chums!
My period of grumpiness did not, however, cloud my thought process, and on further investigation of the summons, I noticed the time was inconsistent with the actual time I had been driving on the M62. As things would have it I had been travelling from London via the M6 toll road and had a toll booth receipt timed for exactly the same time as the alleged speeding offence. It was impossible for me to be in two places at once.
Further research confirmed what I had suspected. That morning the clocks had gone back an hour, and while the toll booth technology had coped, the speed camera had not. My initial representations to the Merseyside speed enforcement team met with a party line response. Apparently there is case law to allow the operatives to adjust the speed camera when next the film is changed. I was in impish mood however and indicated to them that it should be tested again in court as the fact the clock was incorrect could sow seeds of doubt that the speed gun calibration was also inaccurate. Time to mobilise my in-house legal team.
The case was initially adjourned to allow the CPS to assess whether they wished to progress it. At the next hearing they indicated they did, but would apply to re-issue the summons with the correct time on it. Come the third hearing my solicitor argued that they were out of time to do such a thing. They have six months from date of offence apparently. The prosecutor offered no counter argument so reluctantly the magistrate presiding had to throw the case out. As a bit of a bonus, he awarded us costs.
What goes round comes round, however, and I have just got another notification of prosecution, this time 37mph in a 30mph zone. Might not be able to wriggle out of this one.
So imagine my frustration when a fixed penalty notice came through my letter box indicating i had been caught speeding on the M62 motorway. Now the speed I was doing ironically was 62mph in a designated 50mph area designed to encourage cars to slow down as they approach the Rocket intersection at the end of the motorway. Clearly I was decelerating, but not fast enough for Councillor Merseyside and his chums!
My period of grumpiness did not, however, cloud my thought process, and on further investigation of the summons, I noticed the time was inconsistent with the actual time I had been driving on the M62. As things would have it I had been travelling from London via the M6 toll road and had a toll booth receipt timed for exactly the same time as the alleged speeding offence. It was impossible for me to be in two places at once.
Further research confirmed what I had suspected. That morning the clocks had gone back an hour, and while the toll booth technology had coped, the speed camera had not. My initial representations to the Merseyside speed enforcement team met with a party line response. Apparently there is case law to allow the operatives to adjust the speed camera when next the film is changed. I was in impish mood however and indicated to them that it should be tested again in court as the fact the clock was incorrect could sow seeds of doubt that the speed gun calibration was also inaccurate. Time to mobilise my in-house legal team.
The case was initially adjourned to allow the CPS to assess whether they wished to progress it. At the next hearing they indicated they did, but would apply to re-issue the summons with the correct time on it. Come the third hearing my solicitor argued that they were out of time to do such a thing. They have six months from date of offence apparently. The prosecutor offered no counter argument so reluctantly the magistrate presiding had to throw the case out. As a bit of a bonus, he awarded us costs.
What goes round comes round, however, and I have just got another notification of prosecution, this time 37mph in a 30mph zone. Might not be able to wriggle out of this one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)