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Pie boss jailed for speeding ticket scam
The 'face' of gourmet pies advertised on TV shopping channels has been jailed for cheating justice by having other people take his penalty points for speeding convictions.
Henry Toms, the 71-year-old chairman of Lime Tree Pantry pies of Nottingham was jailed for a month on Monday and banned from driving for six months.
Luton Crown Court heard how twice in 2005 his BMW was caught on camera speeding and he was asked to name the driver on a notice of intended prosecution.
On one occasion a female employee said she picked up his points because she feared the business could be affected if he lost his licence, said prosecutor Bill McGivern.
Another time he asked his reluctant wife to shoulder the blame.
He would have got away with the scam but his employee, Jayne Dawes, began working as a civilian with Nottinghamshire Police and realised she had done something seriously wrong and confessed, said the prosecutor.
Toms, a Rotarian, who regularly appears on QVC extolling the virtues of the meat and fruit pies, told a Judge: "I am the face of Lime Tree on television. It is a role only one person can do. The shopping channels account for a third of our business.
"I feel really stupid about what I have done."
Mrs Dawes, 51 who lost her police job after she confessed, told police she was not paid to take his points but she felt some of the workforce would face redundancy if he lost his licence. She took his three points and he paid the fine.
Mr McGivern said the BMW was doing 43mph in a 30mph area on the A421 at Great Barford on November 27 2005. The same car was also clocked doing 85mph on the A1 - in a 70mph zone, in August 2005.
When arrested and interviewed last September, he said he had six points on his licence and asked his wife to say she was driving. He said Mrs Dawes had volunteered when she became aware of his predicament.
Jennifer Carter- Manning, defending Mrs Dawes, said: "It is an unusual case. It was only by chance that she was speaking to a traffic officer who explained the lengths some people will go to to avoid a speeding conviction and how seriously the courts views those who passed their points to someone else. She spoke to her sergeant the following day. She has learned an extremely painful lesson."
Steven Wetton, for Toms, said: "If he is jailed his business will suffer disproportionately for the offence he has committed."
Judge Richard Foster told Toms: "No matter what car you drive or what your position is in your business, as far as I am concerned offences of this nature always give rise to a custodial sentence. You involved others and were in a position of authority."
Toms, of Shepherds Lane, Thoresby Park, Notts, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and perverting the course of justice.
Mrs Dawes, of High Street, Edwinstowe, Notts, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She was given a 12-month community order with a month-long nighttime curfew.
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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV
Snap Unhappy“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code
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