Lib Dem candidate Stephen Gilbert caught speeding

A Lib Dem parliamentary candidate was caught speeding by a camera he admits he "secured the funding for".

Stephen Gilbert's solicitor pleaded guilty on his behalf to speeding in his Kia car at 40mph in a 30mph zone on the A390 at St Blazey, last August.

Mr Gilbert, 38, of Beach Road, Newquay, was fined £430, ordered to pay costs of £85 and given three penalty points.

A charge of failing to give information relating to the driver's identity was withdrawn at Bodmin Magistrates' Court.

Mr Gilbert is defending the St Austell and Newquay seat in Cornwall.
The politician tweeted that the speeding conviction was "ironic" as he had "secured the funding for the camera 15 years ago".

.@tamsinmelville ... and isn't it ironic since I secured the funding for the camera 15 years ago! @BBCCornwall
— Stephen Gilbert (@stephen_gilbert) April 22, 2015

Will 200 year old law help this man avoid $146 speeding fine?

Image: Today / Nine News

A top Queensland barrister will use case law dating back 200 years to try to avoid a $146 speeding fine.

Tony Morris QC is mounting a landmark legal challenge against Queensland's speed-camera laws, The Courier-Mail reports.

Mr Morris says he wasn't driving when his Volvo was photographed doing 57km/h in a 50km/h zone last year.

But he won't say who was behind the wheel.

He has invoked a spousal privilege case from 1817, arguing it's unconstitutional for a Queensland court to fine him when there's evidence he was not the driver.

He says he was in a meeting with top judges when the Volvo was snapped, and they are willing to testify that he was with them.

He argues the spousal privilege principle, established in England 200 years ago, means a husband can't be compelled to provide information that incriminates his wife

 "I decline to identify the person who was in charge of the vehicle at the relevant time," Mr Morris reportedly wrote in a letter to the Department of Transport

 

Earlier this year, Mr Morris wrote to federal, state and territory attorneys-general saying he planned to challenge parts of Queensland's speed-camera laws.

Under the laws, the registered owner of a car has two options: name the driver or say they don't know who was driving. Car owners can't, under the law, say they know who the driver was but refuse to give a name.

Mr Morris has told The Courier-Mail he can't see why he should dob someone in for driving the car when the legislation is invalid.

He said the Volvo caught by the speed camera was not his usual car, but would not tell the paper who usually drove it.

The case will go to the Court of Appeal within weeks.

Police Officer Jailed for Trying to Dodge Speeding Ticket - by Swapping Car Number Plates

Anthony Rees-Thompson a police officer, who tried to dodge a speeding ticket faces being sacked and losing more than £100,000 in pension rights.

The cheating police officer has been jailed for three months for swapping his car number plates in order to dodge a £60 speeding ticket. He also faces being sacked and losing more than £100,000 in pension rights.

A court heard the undercover detective fitted the new registration plates to avoid a fine and three points on his license.
Rees-Thompson then wrote to the speed camera unit saying there had been a technical error or another similar car was using the same registration number.

The father-of-four sent in photographs of his silver Vauxhall Corsa with new plates, bought for £21 online.

Speed camera officials compared the photographs and noticed the plates had the same digits but the new ones had been customised with a blue GB sign and the Welsh flag.

But the court heard Rees-Thompson forgot that his car was being filmed every day as he drove it into police headquarters in Bridgend – and his force’s own HQ CCTV was used to catch him.

Prosecutor Meirion Davies said: “He chose to cheat the legal process with a deliberate deception.
“He fitted different plates and took photographs to deliberately mislead those who were investigating the speeding offence.”

Rees-Thompson had denied perverting the course of justice claiming he changed the plates because they were damaged. If he had paid the fixed penalty notice after being caught on a speed camera doing 35mph in a 30mph zone it would have cost him just £60.

Jonathan Elystan Rees, defending, asked for him to receive a suspended prison sentence to avoid being attacked in prison.  “He has served 11 years as a police officer of an impeccable record. As a former serving police officer he can be expected to be a risk in all sorts of ways while serving in custody – threats to his mental and also his physical wellbeing.”

Jailing him for three months at Newport Crown Court, Judge David Wynn Morgan told Rees-Thompson: “This type of offence strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system. The purpose of the points system is those who drive badly get punished and it discourages bad driving. The system depends on the honest completion of the relevant forms and the dishonest completion of forms is all to easy to do.

“Yours wasn’t a panic reaction – it was a carefully considered and thought out course of action. The alteration of this vehicles appearance and correspondence that went with it was a calculated demonstration of your bare-faced dishonesty and arrogant belief that you could get away with it. Nevertheless, this is a tragedy. You have lost your employment, your reputation and because your self esteem is evidently based on your occupation and profession you obviously have suffered a huge blow.”

He will now lose his job in the covert management department of South Wales Police and his pension rights.

As he was taken down, Judge Morgan told the prison officers: “Police officers are not to escape offences of this nature.

“But I do ask that all appropriate precautions are taken for his safety in custody.”
Anthony-Rees Thompson will now face a “fast track” disciplinary hearing.

Speaking after the case, Tim Jones, Head of Professional Standards at South Wales Police, said: “We note the sentencing of Detective Constable Anthony Rees-Thompson and the decision of the court today.

“DC Rees-Thompson will now be subject to a fast track gross misconduct process chaired by the Chief Constable.

“South Wales Police Anti-Corruption unit fully investigated the fraudulent activities of DC Rees-Thompson which led to his conviction.

“We expect the highest standards of professional conduct from all members of staff, and will not tolerate individuals who undermine the committed public service of their professional colleagues.”