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"Snoopers" on Coaches

7th August 1953, Page 28
7th August 1953
Page 28
Page 28, 7th August 1953 — "Snoopers" on Coaches
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

LATE last year a coach was hired to convey members of a Services club to a football ground. The party was joined by two traffic officers, who were not recognized as strangers by a member of the club committee who collected from each the sum agreed for the trip.

As a 'result the owners of the coach were prosecuted for permitting the vehicle to be employed as an express carriage. This involved a total of six charges, but the magistrates dismissed all of them.

On appeal to the High Court by the prosecution, the Lord Chief Justice allowed the appeal in respect of only one charge—that the coach was not used by a private party, as two nonmembers had joined it. The other five were dismissed on the grounds that the coach was used on "special occasions" within the meaning of the 1930 Act.

The Lord Chief Justice, in giving his decision, referred to the traffic officers as "snooper-s," and stated the dislike of the courts to actions by what were usually called "agents provocateurs." The real fault lay with the defendants' servant, who was in charge of the coach, but took no precaution to ensure that persons who were not members of the club did not gatecrash into the party.

There is something very un-British in this snooping business. In many such parties, particularly if they are large, there may be genuine members who are not known personally to those in charge of the vehicles or to the organizers, but it is unlikely that, except in an effort to trap the unwary, complete strangers would present themselves for inclusion in them.

The case in question does, however, emphasize the need for every precaution to be taken by all concerned in this class of transport, as well as indicating the depth to which officialdom will sometimes sink in its efforts to obtain evidence of "

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Organisations: High Court

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