A "celebrity" driver has been cleared of speeding, as it could not be proved in court that he WAS the driver identified by police as travelling at 116 mph an the M6 near Carlisle.
Quote:
The joint boss of haulage firm Eddie Stobart was yesterday cleared of speeding after it was claimed he was not necessarily the man behind the wheel.
William Stobart, 44, from Crosby-on-Eden, Cumbria, was allegedly clocked doing 116mph on the M6.
Police sergeant Stuart Campbell told Penrith magistrates the driver identified himself as William Stobart, but he could not recall asking for identification documents.
Lawyer Nick Freeman said someone else familiar with Mr Stobart's details could have been driving, and it had not been proved that the speed device had been checked properly.
Is this sloppy work by the police, or a loopehole which need closing?
Surely the policeman should be able to identify the driver in court - as a witness would in a murder case.
There is of course the issue over lack of calibration of the detection equipment, and I foresee drivers being detained for longer at the roadside in order to confirm ID in the future.
If I was a policeman, I might also be looking seriously in the future, at the driving and vehicle standards of Stobbarts vehicles, given a previous court case involving irregularities in record keeping and drivers hours!!
I'm told by a Stobbarts driver that they are under a lot of pressure to keep the deadlines they are set.