http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ul__courtsHe was on BBC North West last night. He did not come across as some arrogant person. He did not look like a "speeder". If I happened to meet him .. my first chatterings might have been on bicycles from appearance :confused: (He fit the image .. of roady cyclist more. He looked like a thinner version of "Tom V - the Fat Man in France" on the eye.
He must feel very strongly about this though as he is still thinking of appealing further up the courts .. even though this case has so far cost him £13K in fines and court costs.. not including his legal fees.
Well.. he has not ruled it out .. even though he could have just accepted the cheaper option in the first place. It was, to him, a matter of principles and morals and justice. He is convinced he was not above that speed limit and his heart and brain will tell him so forever. Now this is perhaps the nub of the whole problem. Folk get pinged. They pay up because of the threats/fears of costs to defend .. yet feel and believe deep down
that they most certainly were not speedingI think from some of the blurb that this case is tip of an avalanche of cases and one just may break the glass bubble. We know for off media record fact Freeman is involved with one of these
in the "stack up."
My wife says too many simply do not "feel the speed or their cars as she does!" Now for the record and without bias or prejudice . Wildy is a precisely skilled motorist by virtue of that German training in the first place.
She can tell me the speed without a glance across over at the dash if I am driving.. fairly precisely .. so she is perhaps the better driver of the two of us because of this uncanny "feel" she appears to show at any one time. The other odd thing about my wife is the memory. She has the brain similar to a speed detecting gadget's database and radar..
She remembers the roads and where she noted a speed cam/van.
She says it's because she concentrates on her driving with intensity. I just think she's got a unique skill when it comes to wheels and is perhaps The Stig's sister.
on the quiet.
Again.. I will edit to remove the name even though he is named in the MEN. I do so because I have not asked him if I can post his case for discussion on a friendly-ish motoring site after all. I am sure he would not mind. I think he may well be a supporter anyway
MEN wrote:
Speed cameras lawful - courts
February 04, 2009
A RETIRED businessman is facing a £10,000 bill after losing a test case questioning the legality of speed cameras.
Mr B, 61, from Lymm, lost both an appeal against a personal speeding conviction and the test-case that all speed camera devices used on Britain's roads since 1992 are illegal.
Had he won the test-case it could have opened the floodgates to thousands of speeding appeals by drivers. But after a five-day hearing at Manchester Crown Court Judge Jonathan Gibson ruled against him.
Now he faces a claim against him for up to £10,000 in prosecution costs, and will have to decide whether or not to pursue his claim in a higher court.
Former computer engineer Mr B said: after the hearing: "I'm obviously disappointed at the judgement.
"Whether we go ahead and pursue this issue is something I will have to think about, but I think the judgement was wrong on both counts."
He said he regretted bringing the case in some ways. "I am being exposed to huge costs when you consider that at the start of all this I could have paid an offered £60 fine and had three points on my licence.
"On the basis of the unfair regime for motorists out there however, I'm not sorry. This is something that needs to be aired. 
"There is an assumption that there is some form of blackmail to dissuade people like me from taking up the legal opportunity to have their case tested. This judgement will deter a lot of other people from similar challenges."
But a number of similar speeding appeals are already in the legal pipeline and set to come before numerous courts over the next few months. :listenup: He's no fool if he did this for a living. He knows a lot more about cross hairs on that basis. Missile guidance is rather more advanced than a laser gun aimed at a car from a human being's hand. If he had been called as an expert witness pro the device .. he could argue the other toss and be believed tooMr B, who at one time worked on weapons aiming systems for Ferranti, had appealed against a conviction for speeding after he was clocked by a laser-gun travelling at 52mph in a 40 limit on Princess Parkway, Manchester, in his Mitsubishi Gallant in November 2006.
He told the appeal hearing that he 'firmly believed' he had not been exceeding the limit, and claimed that the LTI 20/20 Speedscope device that targeted him must have given an inaccurate reading.
Mr B also claimed that the way roadside speed cameras have been authorised since 1992 have been illegal.
His case centred on a change of law which his legal team maintained meant orders approving such devices over the past 17 years should have been put before Parliament for scrutiny as well as being 'signed off' by the relevant Home Secretary.
Judge Gibson, who was assisted by two lay-magistrates, ruled that this was a wrong interpretation of the law, that the Secretary of State had the rightful power to authorise the equipment, and that Parliament still has the power of veto.
On the appeal against the speeding conviction, the court was told that there was at least a serious doubt as to the accuracy of the 52mph reading when the Mitsubishi was clocked. But Judge Gibson said he had been impressed with evidence given by the gun operator Guy Williams, a former police traffic officer, who had wide experience of using the equipment.
He said Mr Williams's opinion that the Gallant had been travelling in excess of the limit had been correctly corroborated by an accurate laser-gun reading.
As IG has said to me over the phone.. Police officer will suspect and use the device to confirm his suspicion. He knows that best results are obtained if the device is mounted on a tripod as we all as keen photographers know wecan all suffer a hand shake which can indeed influence overall sharpness of result.
Manchester caused outrage when all cam op duties were given to civilians.
FOI shows GMP slumped on Road Safety from 2006 when they did this.
They were at top to the charts on detecting potentially rabid terrorist cells.
On the crimes which the public actually judge on and need help with.. GMP scored less than adequately. I will agree that England's second largest city is understaffed in police manpower and that some problems are simply chav related and at mercy of the feeble lentilist phoney brigade.
IG says he has to show all procedures were followed and that all paperwork has to be completed correctly for the courts. He says he was trained in court procedures as well .. as police are also on trial to some extent in his opinion.
I am the rebel though. I cannot help but think courts are swayed too much by "expert opinion" and would refer to the tragic cot death baby convictions which occurred because of a now discredited "expert".
I am shamed to think that guy belonged to the medical profession. I have the same opinion of Shipman and Allitt by the way. I do not defend those who sully my profession. Ever. I have nothing but contempt for Meadows. He lied. He destroyed lives as much as Shipman did. I have not one shred of support for such types in my bones and in my soul. I would expect fellow professionals such as police and teachers and lawyers to feel likewise about such fools who seriously undermine the decent majority.
Reader comments to date .. support Mr B overall.
Click to my link.
I hope he appeals if he can. I will lookout for the other cases all the same. One just might set the precedent to set off the avalanche
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