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90mph police chief's driving ban

The former chair of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has been been banned from driving for speeding at 90mph.

Meredydd Hughes, the chief constable of South Yorkshire, was caught on a speed camera exceeding the 60mph limit on the A5 at Chirk near Wrexham in May.

He stood down from his role at Acpo after he was summonsed over the driving offence, when he was off-duty.

He was disqualified for 42 days and fined £350 by Wrexham magistrates.

Hughes did not appear in person before magistrates but entered his guilty plea via his solicitor.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed in October that Hughes, who is married with one son, was on a family trip when the offence happened.

Variety of roles

As Acpo's roads chief, he had argued in favour of "less conspicuous" speed cameras as a way of slowing down traffic.

Hughes, who is originally from Cardiff, joined the South Wales Constabulary in 1979 after leaving university.

He has worked in a variety of roles including as a firearms officer. In 1999 he was promoted to assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester Police but returned to South Yorkshire in 2002 as deputy chief constable.

He has been in his current chief constable's role since September 2004.

Jools Townsend, of road safety campaigners Brake said Hughes' offence was "shocking" and called the sentence lenient.

"By committing this deadly crime, Hughes undermines the work of traffic police to protect the safety of road users, both within his force and across the country.

Also From BBC News:


Deadly? Even though no-one died or was at risk of dying?

I've never been so pleased to read about a speeding conviction. So richly deserved. I just wish he'd been disqualified for longer.

or was at risk of dying?

And its the same for everybody that gets caught speeding?

90 in a 60?

And?

Can't you see the difference between one who unfairly suffers from a poor policy and one who forces it upon others?

I just wish he'd been disqualified for longer.

90 in a 60?

clearly judged the circumstances to be safe

Safe? 90mph?

Safe? 90mph?

Suicidal probably, and if anybody else was around possibly homicidal.

Safe? 90mph?

'Speeding police 'not prosecuted'
By Martin Shankleman
BBC News

A South Yorkshire police officer caught speeding

Officers were caught speeding while on duty

Roadside camera photographs of South Yorkshire Police officers caught speeding, but who later had their cases dropped, have been obtained by the BBC.

The pictures were released after South Yorkshire's chief constable, Meredydd Hughes, was banned from driving for speeding at 90mph in a 60mph zone.

Those in cars caught on camera were all on duty but none was prosecuted after refusing to say who was at the wheel.

The force said cases were not pursued due to drivers not being identified.

Public interest

The pictures, obtained by BBC Newsnight under the Freedom of Information Act, all showed officers speeding - mostly in the Rotherham and Doncaster areas.

They were released following the intervention of the Information Commissioner, who rejected the force's reason for non-release.

The force had claimed that releasing the images was not in the public interest.

A South Yorkshire police officer caught speeding
Most of the officers caught were in the Doncaster and Rotherham areas

In one case it claimed that if the occupants of a speeding police van were identified because of publication, there was a "risk that those individuals will be vilified and as a consequence their mental or physical health will suffer".

But the commissioner rejected that argument, saying the information had been "inappropriately withheld" and that it was in the public interest for the material to be disclosed.

Overall, the BBC investigation uncovered 26 cases between 2003 and 2006, where South Yorkshire police officers caught speeding on duty failed to admit they were driving and cases were dropped.

'Due diligence'

A spokesman for South Yorkshire police said the cases could no go ahead because they had used "due diligence" in trying to identify the drivers and, because they could not be identified, a prosecution would fail.

A South Yorkshire police officer caught speeding
The force said releasing the pictures was not in the public interest

He added that procedures had now been reformed and earlier this year the chief constable had taken himself to court for failing to identify the driver of a speeding police car.

Mr Hughes, 49, a former chair of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), apologised after being caught on camera doing 90mph in a 60mph zone on the A5 at Chirk near Wrexham in May.

He stood down from his role at Acpo after he was summonsed for the offence, which happened when he was on holiday.

He was disqualified for 42 days and fined £350 by Wrexham magistrates.

Clearly you feel your own standard of driving means you are not up to handling a vehicle at such a speed safely.

Sorry, there's no way you could ever describe travelling at 90mph as safe, if something went wrong there'd be little or no chance of recovering.

Sure nothing happened, but that doesn't mean it was safe to do it.