Police conspiracy claim by speeding taxi driver rejected

Sean Bonner, of Hokitika, Rue des Marais, Vale, denied driving at 43mph in 25mph Grande Rue, St Martin’s.

He was found guilty by Judge Graeme McKerrell, who fined him £250 and banned him from driving for a month.

Mr Bonner based his defence on what he said were discrepancies in the evidence given by the two police officers who were on speed gun duty that night.

The officers had told the court they were wearing high-visibility jackets, and PC Samuel Simon, who was using the speed gun, said he had been standing next to the road when he recorded the speed of Mr Bonner’s vehicle as it drove away from him, heading towards the Queen’s Inn.

But Mr Bonner said he had subsequently seen video footage provided by a nearby shop which showed the officers were not in the positions they had claimed to be and also, apparently, not wearing high visibility jackets.

This video footage showed his taxi passing by at a time different to that stated by the officers and he said that to him and the witness who was watching the footage with him, it did not seem to be going at speed.

The witness confirmed to the court that he had seen the footage.

Mr Bonner said his vehicle was fitted with a speed limiter, which it was his habit to use regularly to ensure his car could not exceed the maximum speed limit in the island and so he could not have been driving at 43mph.

Prosecuting advocate Jenny McVeigh put it to him that he might not have activated it on this occasion, but Mr Bonner said he was sure he would have.

The court was shown CCTV footage of Mr Bonner’s taxi at Jeffrey’s in Ruettes Brayes shortly before he was seen in Grande Rue and he submitted a till receipt that he said showed he had been there a minute after PC Simon said he had recorded the taxi’s speed.

Advocate McVeigh said Mr Bonner had tried to use a smokescreen to conceal what happened that night, but he denied it.

The court heard recordings of PC Simon’s call to the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre in which he asked for Mr Bonner’s car registration to be checked.

Mr Bonner claimed that this call had taken place before the officer had recorded a speed and that there was no guarantee which car’s speed he had recorded.

In his opinion police were targeting taxi drivers in the wake of new 25mph limits being brought in and the officers had not been honest about their actions on that night.

PC Simon was not fully trained in the use of the speed gun and had not checked that it was showing the correct time, he said.

The officer had said that his radio was not transmitting when he had used the speed gun, but Mr Bonner said that the timing of the calls to Jescc had indicated that it was, and that this could have interfered with the operation of the gun.

He concluded by saying that over the last six months he had been sick with stress because of this matter and had he not been innocent he would have admitted speeding.

Judge Graeme McKerrell said the defendant’s suggestion that he was the victim of a police stitch-up was an allegation of the utmost seriousness which should not have been made without substance.

The timings of events did not support his conspiracy theory and he seemed to think that a preciseness of this was required that was rarely achieved in a court room.

Judge McKerrell rejected the theory that both police officers had made the same mistake or that PC Simon had lied deliberately.

He was satisfied that PC Simon had used the speed gun for some time and knew how to perform acts and recordings of speed with it correctly. There was no evidence to suggest that the machine was faulty or the reading had been flawed.

He accepted that Mr Bonner genuinely believed he was not guilty of the offence.

He had said he could not recall setting his speed limiter but said he must have done. Judge McKerrell said he thought the defendant was mistaken on that point.

He found him guilty. Mr Bonner had one previous conviction.

Mr Bonner asked he if had a right to appeal and Judge McKerrell said he did.

He said he had driven to court and asked permission to be able to drive home. Judge McKerrell said the law did not allow for that and he would have to make other arrangements.