MANCHESTER TICKET SCAM
WARNING TO DRIVERS OF PLEADING GUILTY
EARLIER THIS YEAR A MEMBER OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE CENTRAL TICKET OFFICE WAS ARRESTED FOR PER- VERTING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE. HE FACES ALLEGATIONS WHICH COULD INVOLVE OVER 600 DRIVERS IN THE UK. NOW READ ON.....
The Central Ticket Office is responsible for sending out Notices of Intended Prosecution to regis- tered keepers of vehicles alleged to have committed traffic offences. Most people will be familiar with the process: your car is caught on a speed camera or a traffic light camera and with-
in 14 days you receive a Notice from the Police warning of the offence and request- ing the name and address of the driver at the time of the alleged offence. In most cases the recipient of such a Notice admits to being the driver and the mat- ter is dealt with by way of a fixed penalty
(three penalty points and a £60.00 fine). Sometimes, in the case of more serious offences, the matter will be referred to the Court.
However, a member of the Central Ticket Office in Manchester is alleged to have been removing tickets from the system in return for financial reward and it is sug- gested, by the Police investigating the mat- ter, that the number of such cases could exceed 600.
The police have a mammoth task on their hands in tracing all these potential driv- ers and subsequently investigating whether they were in on the scam.
Oliver Gardner, Man- aging Director and Head of Motoring Law at national law firm Howards Solicitors, who is representing a number of drivers accused of being involved in this scam, has learnt that the Police are not even halfway through inves-
tigating the drivers allegedly involved in the scam.
Drivers alleged to have been involved will receive, if they have not already, a let- ter from the police advising that enquiries are being made into the information of the driver recorded on a notice sent to him/her by the police.
The recipients of such letters are invited to contact the police in order to be inter- viewed.
Oliver Gardner warns recipients of such let- ters to take care when speaking to the police because of the poten- tial long-term impli- cations of any admis- sions made.
Oliver Gardner adds: “The police obviously cannot afford to put in excess of 600 people before the Court all charged with a con- spiracy to pervert the course of justice. Accordingly the police are offering drivers, who admit the offence, a caution for an offence of perverting
the course of justice. If the driver accepts the caution then the driver avoids Court proceedings.”
This is obviously an attractive option but the drivers accepting the caution are not necessarily conscious of the long-term impli- cations. A caution will be recorded against you and must usually be disclosed on any future job application. The offence of pervert- ing the course of justice is an extremely serious offence which can carry life imprison- ment in the most serious of cases. It is often unnecessary for the driver to accept a caution because the police may be bluffing about taking the case to Court and in any event if there is insuffi- cient evidence indi- cating the driver’s involvement in the fraud then the police could not justify taking the matter to Court and, even if they did, could not expect a conviction in the cir- cumstances.
Oliver Gardner, who acts for many taxi driv- ers who would seem to make up the majori- ty of those being investigated by the police, warns that a caution for such an offence may prejudice any future renewal application in relation to the driver’s hackney or private hire licence. All recipients of such correspondence from the police are advised to seek independent legal advice before speaking to the police. Any person being interviewed by the police is entitled to have a solicitor pres- ent and, in some cases, that service can be provided free of charge.
Taxi drivers seeking information or advice in relation to this mat- ter can contact Oliver Gardner at Howards Solicitors: 489 Chester Road, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 9HF, by telephone on 0161 872 9999 or by e-mail:
oliver.gardner@howards
solicitors.com.
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