Mobile Phone Prosecution A68 Scotland |
Mobile Phone Prosecution A68 Scotland |
Sat, 14 Apr 2012 - 11:21
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#1
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: 14 Apr 2012 Member No.: 54,281 |
Hi everybody i'm looking for some help and advice with a court case which is coming up.
The circumstances - I was driving down the A68 about 20 miles south of Edinburgh towards Newcastle (about 250miles away from my home). I was driving through a village with a 30mph speed limit following a utility company van that was constantly speeding up and slowing down between 15-30mph. As i left the built up area the van was doing about 15mph and i thought he was looking for somewhere to stop, so i overtook him accelarating upto the 30mph speed limit, now with the national speed limit sign about 100metres in front of me. As i got past the national speed limit sign i accelarated up to 50mph and noticed a volvo car with flashing blue lights overtaking the van behind me. I pulled over in a small side road and he followed me in. I stayed sat in my van and the policeman came to the window to speak with me, the first thing he said was "what do you think you're doing overtaking in a built up area it's not allowed". I pointed out that i thought the van i was following was stopping and was travelling slow and there weren't any road markings which forbid overtaking. He said "you're not allowed to overtake in a built up area". I said "I don't agree, i think you are if you don't exceed the speed limit and there aren't solid white lines". He then told me to come and sit in his car and to bring my mobile phone. I didn't like where this was going. When i got in their car (there were 2 officers) we argued over the overtaking, and then without warning the officer said anyway you were using your mobile phone. This completely threw me as i knew that i hadn't and i was furious. I said a few things about what i thought of police officers like him and i was then cautioned and asked to reply to which i said "why are you lying". I thought at the time that they had completely fabricated the whole thing up so they could prosecute me for something, i told him to check my phone call register and messages but he refused, and told me he didn't have to and they probably had video evidence. I said you most certainly don't and asked to see it, which he also refused. This really made me mad and i was eventually let on my way. When i got back in my van i did a "screen grab" on my mobile phone on the call register screen and on the messages screen which shows up to that point i hadn't used the phone that day. I then set back off and turned my stereo back on and restated my ipod which is linked to my stereo, at which point i realised that the 2 officers may not have been deliberately lying but may have seen me changing a music track on my ipod. If i hadn't been so enraged at the time and had thought rationally i would probably have remembered in the police car, but i was convinced he had made the whole thing up. I have had a letter from the Courts asking me to plead guilty or not guilty and i returned it with "not guilty" I have now had another letter with a date of 31st May 2012 for an intermediate diet, where witnesses aren't present and a trial date of 28th June 2012. I rang a solicitor and was quoted £3000 to defend me with absolute no guarentees or any confidence he could help me. I thought even if i prove my innocence i'm still £3000 worse off, as he told me costs for defence couldn't be claimed back in scottish courts. The situation i'm in is this - I own a courier company and employ 4 people and i drive myself full time. I have 15points on my licence which were all from a 2 month period between june-august 2009 on my motorbike (which i have now sold). When i went to court last time they thought i only had 3 points (but infact had 9) as it was all very close to each other, they gave me another 6 thinking they had put me on 9 but really i had 15. No hardship plea was given as they didn't ban me or consider it. I hold my hands up to the motorbike speeding, i was daft and deserved it - they really clamped down on the country roads in my area and i kept getting caught out. The fact is though i drive over 100,000 miles a year all over UK and Europe and in the last 10 years have picked up 1 speeding fine whilst driving, I have never been caught using a mobile phone as i never use it whilst driving - I am very against it as i see so much of it whilst i'm driving and see first hand how poor people drive when using them. This really is a genuine error in what the police think they saw, and i would really appreciate some advice on defending myself, presenting my evidence at court, obtaining mobile phone records and what route to take with this. Sorry for the long first post Thanks James |
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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 - 17:47
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#2
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: 14 Apr 2012 Member No.: 54,281 |
Yes there are the 2 police officers statements, my above post is a quote of their statements. I'm not trying to say the police were lying as I initially thought, I am simply saying they are mistaken in what they believe they saw.
There was a part on the witness statement that said no video evidence present. |
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