Bob
13th July 2006, 00:44
The head of an advertising agency behind a “speed kills” radio campaign has vowed to go “all the way” in his fight against Macclesfield Police – after accusing an officer of “hiding behind a garden wall” to catch him.
Trevor Shepherd, 38, was stopped by a policeman using a handheld device and received a £60 fixed penalty ticket and three penalty points, for allegedly riding at 46mph in a 30mph zone.
Mr Shepherd, whose company worked on the recent campaign for north west speed camera partnerships, denies speeding and says the officer who caught him was unfairly concealed behind a wall. Shepherd said: “There is no doubt in my mind that this guy was hiding behind a garden wall and that is against the police’s own code of practice. I have written to the chief superintendent at Macclesfield and I intend to go all the way with it (his appeal). There is no way that I was doing 46mph and the police speed gun was not type-approved to use against motorcycles.”
Macclesfield police said they would not comment, because it looked likely that the case would now be going to court and was, therefore, sub-judice, but a Cheshire spokesman added “There is no requirement in law for an officer to be visible. As part of our best practice we would always try to be clearly visible when checking speed but the fact that a driver could not see an officer would not be a defence.”
Trevor Shepherd, 38, was stopped by a policeman using a handheld device and received a £60 fixed penalty ticket and three penalty points, for allegedly riding at 46mph in a 30mph zone.
Mr Shepherd, whose company worked on the recent campaign for north west speed camera partnerships, denies speeding and says the officer who caught him was unfairly concealed behind a wall. Shepherd said: “There is no doubt in my mind that this guy was hiding behind a garden wall and that is against the police’s own code of practice. I have written to the chief superintendent at Macclesfield and I intend to go all the way with it (his appeal). There is no way that I was doing 46mph and the police speed gun was not type-approved to use against motorcycles.”
Macclesfield police said they would not comment, because it looked likely that the case would now be going to court and was, therefore, sub-judice, but a Cheshire spokesman added “There is no requirement in law for an officer to be visible. As part of our best practice we would always try to be clearly visible when checking speed but the fact that a driver could not see an officer would not be a defence.”