An Audi driver who was stopped by Police and accused of speeding has been found not guilty at Kendal Magistrates Court and his legal costs have been reimbursed.
Philip Wincott was charged with speeding at 110mph on the M6 motorway in Kendal. An Audi motor vehicle had been seen in lane three of the M6 motorway by two traffic Police officers in a static marked police car and the speed recorded by way of a Pro Laser Kustom 3 device.
Fortunately he chose to instruct Stephensons Solicitors LLP’s specialist motoring defence team and was represented by specialist motoring solicitor-advocate Martyn Walsh at trial on May 24th 2012. Martyn cross-examined the Police officers and advanced his defence successfully.
Martyn Walsh said: “During robust cross examination, the Police officers were forced to accept that this was the only speed gun in their entire department, that the speed check had been carried out across three lanes of motorway traffic and that it had been used at double the distance for which it had been calibrated.
“The officers were also forced to admit that they had lost sight of the vehicle which was travelling away from them at the time of the check, which took place at a distance of 965 foot and 110 mph. While the officer maintained that they had lost sight of the vehicle for only 10 seconds and was certain that our client's vehicle, when stopped, was the same as the one checked by the speed gun, they also had to accept that they pursued the Audi at speeds of up to 140mph without any emergency equipment illuminated or sounding and that it was not stopped until some ten miles later.
“To make matters worse for the Police officers, after later being asked to provide a recording of the route taken by the Audi motor vehicle, one of them recorded part of the route taken during the allegation, but chose to do so while travelling at a speed of 110 mph and without activating emergency equipment, in an effort to reconstruct the offence, raising concerns about public safety. The DVD recording of this reconstruction was served on us as defence solicitors as part of the prosecution case and it was played during the trial in open court.
“This was a successful outcome for our client who had protested his innocence from the moment he was stopped, in his conversation with the two traffic officers at the roadside, through to his trial in the Magistrates Court.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Stephensons is one of the region’s largest law firms with eight offices across the North West and more than 350 employees.
- The Crime department is recommended by the leading independent guides to the legal profession: the Legal 500 and Chambers UK. The latest edition of Chambers UK says: “The wide office network and sheer size of this crime team assures it a high profile. Sources agree that 'it is clearly well organised to handle the volume' of work that it undertakes.“
For all media enquiries please contact: Lianne Tracey
Stephensons Solicitors LLP
T: 01616 966 229
E: lct@stephensons.co.uk