Our Motoring Offences team has compiled a list of case studies
for you. Click on the bookmarks below to view the
relevant case studies.
use of mobile phones
allegedly driving while using a mobile phone
Mr H instructed Tim Williamson of the
Motoring Offences team, in connection with an allegation of driving
whilst using a hand held mobile telephone. Two officers had stopped
him in the centre of Southampton and sought to issue him with a
fixed penalty because they claimed they saw him talking on his
mobile telephone whilst he was driving. Mr H denied this and
declined to accept the fixed penalty. Mr Williamson and Mr H spent
much of the following 13 months trying to obtain crucial records
from his mobile phone provider which showed data covering his
incoming as well as outgoing calls. The case reached Southampton
Magistrates Court last Thursday 27th May where Mr H was acquitted.
The court accepted the defence case that both officers were
mistaken and that the mobile phone records supported the client's
account. The court then ordered that Mr H's costs be paid from
central funds. Needless to say the client was delighted with the
outcome.
accusation of driving whilst using a mobile phone,
Southampton
S consulted Barry Culshaw of the
Motoring Offences team with regard to a prosecution brought by
Hampshire Constabulary. S was alleged to have been driving a
motor vehicle on a road in the Southampton area whilst using a
handheld mobile telephone. S maintained that he was not using
a mobile telephone in anyway whatsoever at the material time.
Barry Culshaw arranged for the mobile telephone to be analysed by
an expert and also commissed a report from the data records of the
contract phone provider. Two witnesses present at the time of
the incident were also interviewed in readiness for their giving
evidence at the trial which was listed before Southampton
Magistrates Court. Barry Culshaw arranged to serve the expert
evidence and data records on the Crown Prosecution Service.
On the afternoon prior to the trial the Crown Prosecution Service
decided to discontinue the case on the basis that there was "not
enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".
allegation of misuse of mobile phones whilst driving
S consulted Barry Culshaw of the Motoring Offences team with
regard to an allegation of misuse of a mobile phone while
driving. The prosecution had been brought by Hampshire
Constabulary. S denied that he had been using a mobile phone at the
material time and challenged the evidence of two police officers to
the contrary. Prior to trial, the mobile service provider was
contacted and produced evidence which supported S' case. At the
trial of the matter at New Forest Magistrates Court, S was found
not guilty and the allegation dismissed.
