Safe Speed Forums

24 February 2015
Police have warned drivers against putting devices on their vehicles to jam speed cameras after a motorist was jailed for two months.

North Yorkshire Police said Nigel Stephenson was jailed at Bradford Crown Court for perverting the course of justice by a judge who also banned him from driving for six months and ordered him to pay £1,000 costs, the force said.

Stephenson, 65, of Ghyll Close, Steeton, near Keighley, was arrested after two incidents caused police concern.

An officer operating a mobile safety camera on the A59 Harrogate to Skipton road on August 4, last year, picked up an error code and detected audible feedback from his equipment when it was directed towards Stephenson's white Jaguar.

Four days later, the same thing happened as Stephenson drove his Jaguar along the A629 at Crosshills near Keighley.

Both incidents were captured on video by the mobile safety camera and Stephenson was arrested, a force spokesman said.

When officers examined his Jaguar, they discovered the laser jammer fitted to the front of the vehicle and he was charged with two offences of perverting the course of justice.

The spokesman said that Judge Jonathan Rose ordered the destruction of the device and also of a snooper device fitted to the dashboard, which alerted the driver to the presence of speed cameras.

Stephenson was issued with a caution for using a similar device in 2010, the force confirmed.

Pc Andy Forth said: "The sentence handed out to Mr Stephenson reflects how seriously the criminal justice system takes attempts to pervert the course of justice.

"Having previously been issued with a caution for a similar offence, Mr Stephenson chose to ignore that warning and believed he could cheat the laws that are made to protect road users.

"The result sends a clear message that North Yorkshire Police are determined to keep the roads as safe as possible and will use to technology to its full capacity to bring anyone found flouting the law to justice."

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sends a clear message that North Yorkshire Police are determined to keep road users as safe as possible and will use to technology to its full capacity to bring anyone found flouting the law to justice.