A motorist convicted of speeding won his appeal in Luton Crown Court on 28 July 2008 after the CPS were forced to accept that the Police Officer in the case recorded the speed of his own vehicle.
The Police Officer (PC Pietelen) claimed to have been following the motorist using a VASCAR in-car speed recording device to measure his speed, but in evidence it became clear that he could not see the motorist at the time and had only recorded his own speed.
The VASCAR works like a stopwatch, which calculates the average speed over a measured distance. There are known inaccuracies with this device, primarily as a result of operator error, and it is not Home Office approved.
Richard Clarke, Managing Partner of Motor Defence Team Solicitors said, ‘this case should never have made it through the Magistrates’ Court with such a fundamental error in the prosecution evidence. The taxpayer will now have to pick up the bill, including a wasted costs Order that was made against the CPS.’
