-----Any defendant is entitled
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to see physical evidence'
care I suppose—and I speak as a motorist — uneasily aware of the increasing range of electronic aids that are being provided for the police. All are designed to make the life of those who are over-exuberant increasingly difficult.
The equipment itself — VASCAR, radar, hand held radar and the rest — is frequently improved, In response, those who can afford it and are sufficiently anxious, buy the latest detection equipment. A comparatively harmless contest in which the driver clings to the belief that there is a sporting chance of escape even if, ultimately, it is necessary to go to court.
Recently the law has been strengthened by the appearance of signs suggesting that photographs will be taken of wrongdoers. A section of the A34 has these signs although, try as! might,! have been unable to spot the telltale grey box. There is, however; one use of cameras that is clearly producing prosecutions and it is that activity that
I causes me great concern.
Some junctions controlled by traffic lights have cameras that are set to take pictures of those who go through the lights on red. As with an increasing number of electronic checks, the first the driver knows is when the summons appears in the post. Inevitably, this will be some time after the event and memory
I causes me great concern.
Some junctions controlled by traffic lights have cameras that are set to take pictures of those who go through the lights on red. As with an increasing number of electronic checks, the first the driver knows is when the summons appears in the post. Inevitably, this will be some time after the event and memory may be far from clear, if indeed, any incident can be remembered. The solution is simple — look at the photograph. The police have a picture, all you need is a copy.
Incredibly, that is not possible. More correctly, it is possible but the provision of a copy photograph is contrary to police policy. Those who want to see the photograph have to travel to the appropriate police station where the evidence will be projected on to a screen. In one instance the driver lives in the south of England and the photograph is available for display in Hull. Even if the driver goes, interpretation of the image may require a lawyer to whose advice, in theory at least, we are all entitled. Who is to pay for this? Who is to refund the driver's loss of income? Who is to pay the lawyer? Certainly, I hear neither the police nor the courts offering help.
Should you insist, you will be told that the equipment to view the picture will be available at court if the driver pleads not guilty. If the driver is convicted or changes the plea to guilty having seen the picture, additional costs will be levied in addition to a penalty.
This, in my view, is disgraceful. Any defendant is entitled to see physical evidence that the prosecution proposes to put forward. The person accused of driving with excess alcohol gets a copy of the printout or a sample of blood. Is it really the case that the latest cameras cannot easily produce a photograph?
The police, I suspect, would argue that when a picture is taken there can be no question of the innocence of the motorist. That, in many cases, may be true, but not in all.
In one case, yet to be decided, the police concede that three vehicles went through the junction at the same moment and yet only one driver has been reported. Problems arise with long slow vehicles. Problems, I suspect, may arise if the weather is adverse. Whether I am right or wrong, however, simple justice would seem to demand that the driver who is concerned should be able to see a photograph.
There is already a storm of concern about the process of law. The reality is that most of us encounter the courts as drivers and, as drivers, we already feel that we are not being treated fairly. When a driver cannot see the photograph, why bother with the film? Indeed, if the police in this area of law are allknowing, why bother with courts?
I urge every driver faced with this type of prosecution to demand a copy of the photograph.