Chat & Social > The Bar - General Chat
is this really what we pay taxes for?
beast5680:
is it just me or is this just too stupid for words? i have a friend who smokes a pipe while driving should he be arrested and fined for this ?
£10,000 to Nail Driver Who Ate Apple
Police spent more than £10,000 of public money, and used a helicopter and a spotter plane, to convict a woman of driving while eating an apple.
Officers spent months gathering evidence and building a vast case against 23-year-old Sarah McCaffery – and yesterday she was fined £60.
The nursery nurse was forced to attend court 10 times before the fine was finally handed out by magistrates at South Shields, Tyneside.
Victims of crime groups and campaigners for taxpayers were furious at what they see as a scandalous waste of public money.
Officers swung into action after McCaffery was spotted eating a golden delicious at the wheel of her Ford Ka.
"This is all about trying to crush her because she is the one who stood up and said 'this is silly'"
-Geoffrey Forrester, Sarah's solicitor
She refused to accept a £30 on-the-spot fine, claiming she was in full control of the car, and said she would fight it in court.
Astonishingly, police then called in a spotter plane to film her route, then repeated the exercise with a police helicopter.
Officers then videoed the route from a squad car and used the footage as part of yesterday’s two and a half hour hearing.
The costs of the whole proceedings against McCaffery are estimated at £10,000.
She said: "It is a joke they put so much effort into this. I couldn’t believe it when they brought all this video evidence into court.
"You’d think they’d have better things to do. Aren’t there enough proper criminals for them to catch?"
Her solicitor, Geoffrey Forrester, said: “This is all about trying to crush her because she is the one who stood up and said 'this is silly'."
A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: "As the defendant chose a court trial rather than accept a fixed penalty, we were obliged to gather all appropriate evidence to present our case."
Matthew Elliot of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: "The thousands of pounds spent on this case could have been spent trying to tackle real criminals, the people who burgle our houses and steal our cars
muddysteve:
Its beyond belief isnt it. :twisted:
Yesterday morning i drove home from asda after doing the shopping with 2 police bikes in front of me and a police bmw behind me. They followed me all the way home and then just drove off. What was all that about? I was eating a nice chocolate cookie for most of the route and didnt have my seat belt on and didnt even get a flash of the lights :?:
I'm sure if i'd crept over the speed limit or answered the phone they'd have been all over me like a rash.
Makes you wonder why there seems to be different standards for different consabularies?
Steve
muddyweb:
I have mixed views really.... first off... no, it is a complete waste of money and resource... and that much is disgraceful.
The other side of the coin is that you can be hammered (specifically) for using a mobile in the car now, yet still eating, drinking, smoking, reading a map, etc. etc. just carry a due care and attention charge (with supporting evidence). That, in my book, is a double standard. I've seen many people only vaguely in control of their vehicles whilst trying to get a ciggy lit in the same way as using a phone.
For my tax pounds, they should restrict these sort of charges to specifics where a person is demonstrably not in control of the vehicle or not paying attention and stop focusing on stupid generalisations.
Bob696:
two points
--- Quote ---at the wheel of her Ford Ka
--- End quote ---
Well thats worth a £60 fine right there
you see traffic cops other than on the motorway ????? Will wonders never cease :?:
muddysteve:
They dont bother with motorways, its much easier to nick people doing 35 on the main dual carraigeway through farnborough thats a 30 limit.
Steve
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version