Safe Speed Forums

A case to point at if you here of people suggesting anything similar, people seem to think that they won't get caught or that they would get a slap on the wrist.

Businessman jailed over lies to protect speeding daughter
05 January 2005

A BUSINESSMAN who lied to police to stop his daughter getting three points on her driving licence has been jailed for four months.
David Simmonite's daughter was caught by a speed camera as she drove an Audi A3 belonging to him at 87mph on the A1 at Grantham in Lincolnshire.
But when sent a form requesting the identity of the driver, 60-year-old Simmonite filled in the name of a French man from whom he had previously bought property.
Police traced the man to France and discovered he had been at home, receiving treatment for a kidney complaint, at the time of the offence.
Lincoln Crown Court heard how officers then went to see Simmonite, of Malt Kiln Hall, Malt Kiln Lane, Thornton, Bradford, who admitted he had lied so his daughter's licence would not be endorsed.
Simmonite admitted perverting the course of justice as a result of the incident in March.
Judge Peter Clark told him: "This was a calculated deception. People cannot pervert the course of justice in this way and expect to get away with it."
Mitigating, solicitor Godfrey Napthine said Simmonite had previously led a blameless life. "He is in the very unfortunate position of only having realised the gravity of what he involved himself in once it unfolded. He simply thought he was saving his daughter from penalty points on her licence. He feels very keenly the shame of what he has done."
Mr Napthine said Simmonite had suffered from a heart problem since his arrest, a condition he believed had been brought on by the incident.
"He has an appointment with a cardiologist later this month to have what is potentially a serious condition investigated," Mr Napthine told the court.
[/url]

Well I'm glad he's locked up in jail - he's clearly a dangerous risk to the population of this country...

FFS, car thieves, burglars and muggers get off with less than 4 months jailtime.

_________________
Carl Prescott

Seems very excessive - making an example to deter others type stuff.

Now had he said - I can't remember it might have been me, my wife, duaghter or frog bloke. Can you send us the photos? Then he'd probably have got a 'nice try, it wont work next time' letter, from the scamerati.

Doesn't seem any worse than the scammers bringing a prosecution against someone even though they know it will fail, in the hope that the victim will pay up out of fear to avoid court.

Probation usualy

But if it is a motoring related crime...throw away the key...

Thats why there are more people in jail for minor motoring offences than burglary.

_________________
Speed camera policy Kills

Unfortunately for this bloke "perverting the course of justice" is a VERY serious crime and should incur a greater penalty that many other crimes.

BUT, to charge this bloke with that offence seems bloody ridiculous.

I (know someone who) used similar responses to his in the past over parking fines but the person overseas was a friend and they just threw the letter in the bin. (got away with it!)

I am rather surprised at the lengths the police have gone to investigate such a minor offence. How much time was wasted that could have been used to investigate a genuinely serious crime?

And all over 60 pounds and 3 points

_________________
Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

So the police went all the way to France to question this bloke? For a 3 point and £60 fine offence.

Would they put as much effort into it if it were a burglar?

It does seem a little harsh to prosecute when he actually admitted what he had done.

While I entirely agree that this prosecution was disproportionate, surely the moral of the story is that if you want to claim someone else was driving, you need to make sure that person will confirm the story.

Do we know whether he's the father of Stephanie and Rachel Simmonite of motorsport fame, as it's a fairly rare name?

(Incidentally, Compo's surname in "Last of the Summer Wine" was also Simmonite )

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

An Internet search or two reveals that it is indeed the famed Simmonite rallying family. At least:

• This quote reveals that the sisters' father's name is David; and
• This one reveals that the sisters have established a catering business with the same address as that reported for Mr Simmonite in the Yorkshire Post.

I wonder if the reason why the authorities went to all that trouble was because it was that family; and that they would not have bothered if it were joe public.

_________________
Will

Not that the family has an entirely unblemished driving history...

http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/bradfor ... ws8RM.html

_________________
CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

Of course, that was over six years ago, Rachael served her penance, and we don't even know whether it was her driving the Audi. The DUI from 1998 only strengthens my suspicion that the authorities gave the speeding case "special treatment".

_________________
Will

But even so you can't escape the conclusion that her father was distinctly stupid to name someone on the form who was easily traceable and who hadn't agreed to the defence.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Perhaps a reasonable man, not familiar with camera enforcement practice would have judged that no such enquiry would take place.

Don't forget we've seen this daft official behaviour before.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

No..it's called politics. You single someone out, commit all your resources to gettin a result, then make a big PR case out of it to scare of anyone else who is thinking about it.

I bet 99% of cases con't even get a second look.

_________________
Speed camera policy Kills

Stupid? yes, I agree. Also, I don't condone his deceit, even though I believe the "speed uber alles" ethos to be fatally flawed. However that is entirely distinct from whether the authorities discriminated against the Simmonites. That is, whether they would have attacked all such cases in the same manner or whether they committed additional resources because of who was involved.

_________________
Will

So someone could still be considered reasonable if they purposefully attempted to mislead the legal process believing that it wouldn't go to the lengths it did to verify the information he presented ?

I was trying to indicate (perhaps not very clearly) that a reasonable man would judge "international enquiries" to be wholly disproportionate for a £60 trivial offence.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I suggest that anyone who actually thought that such an obvious attempt to sidestep their (or a relative's in this instance) responsibilities hadn't been tried before, could hardly be considered reasonable.
If it were that simple, and the authorities just gave up when presented with the prospect of tracing a foreign driver, then everyone would be doing it would'nt they?

To be charitable, it smacks of panic. One would imagine with his daughters' motorsport connections he would not be short of sources of advice on the subject. Perhaps the daughter involved already had nine points on her licence, we don't know.

And making a phone call to France isn't exactly difficult for the police.

If he'd squared it in advance with the French man there's not a lot the police could have done.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

This is getting way out of hand - it was really a bit of a throwaway remark in the first place.

My bottom line is I believe that "a reasonable man" would be amazed at the lengths they frequently go to to prosecute camera tickets.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety