Recent Interpretation of Duty to Give Informtion
Recently the High Court liberally interpreted the provision requiring a vehicle keeper to provide details of a driver. This is good news for vehicle owners unable to reasonably ascertain a driver’s identity when required to provide details under section 172 Road Traffic Act 1988. Atkinson v DPP.
Time is money: Business beware of imposing unreasonable timetables
If an employee exceeds the speed limit as a result of attempting to comply with his or her employer’s unreasonable timetable, the employer can be charged with procuring an offence of speeding. The timetable or schedule can be used as evidence of the employer’s complicity. So, this is a cautionary…
Businessmen – Know Your Limits!
Lack of judgement about your speed, coupled with a lack of judgement about your ability to communicate, could cost you your licence. My working environment, the courtroom, is an artificial place. The rules and customs there are known only to the initiated. To an outsider, it is a mysterious place…
The Clerk to the Magistrates’
The Clerk to the Magistrates’ The lay decision makers in the Magistrates’ Court do not usually have formal legal qualifications. The clerk is a qualified lawyer who advises on the law. He or she sit in front of the bench and could be mistaken for fulfilling an administrative rule; do…
All That Legal Experience
Recently at the Magistrates’ Court my client faced a charge of driving through a red light at 53 mph in a 30 mph limit. The expected penalty was a very large fine (he was a Premier League Football player) and 6 points. With the assistance of a photograph of the…
Legal Argument
My client had accumulated 18 points on his licence and was disqualified for 15 months as a totter. At the Crown Court on appeal, a carefully worded technical argument on the interpretation of the statute was sufficient to persuade the court to reduce the disqualification to 9 months! Sometimes investing…
Astonishing Cheek
Astonishing Cheek I represented a client today at the Crown Court. The history of this case shows how careful you have to be in choosing a lawyer. Here is the story: The client committed a series of minor traffic offences and a solicitor was instructed. The solicitor did not bother…
Prosecution weaknesses
There is nothing certain about the outcome of a criminal trial. It involves a complex matrix of evidence, procedure and law applied to the uncertainty of constantly shifting sands of live witnesses and changing circumstances. There is no doubt that the skill of the lawyer, in this combatant arena, will…
Drink drivers beware
I have recently been asked to advise a Surrey motorist who was convicted of drink driving following a road traffic accident. The other party to the accident is making a claim for damages. The Surrey motorist’s insurance company is avoiding paying out on the basis that the drink driving conviction…
Surrey highways information
The link for Surrey highways information is: http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/highways-information-online