Stan Confesses

Here's my entire crime sheet:-

One evening in 2005, I was returning from my week's work in Stoke to my house in Glasgow. The M6 was quiet, the evening was pleasant and I was singing a happy song while my Big Stupid Spanish Diesel (BSSD) ate up the miles between the Lake District and the Scottish border.

As it happens it was eating up the miles a spot too quickly, and by the time I had seen the "safety camera " van on the bridge ahead, they already had a good picture of my blushing face coming towards them at 89 miles per hour.

I didn't put up a fuss and accepted three penalty points on my previously unblemished license, and paid a £60 fine. Even though the road was clear, the weather was fine and my car can safely do a lot more than 89 mph, the fact that I couldn't react to a camera van in time shows that I would have had problems reacting to a road hazard in time. So, it's a fair cop, guv and if you can't do the Time, don't do the Crime.

The £60 is long forgotten and the three points have now expired. However, I had to put details of this shameful incident on my Magistrate application form. It was mentioned at the interview, and one of the panel had a go at me about it, presumably to see if she could provoke a reaction.

Last week I sent off my Criminal Records Bureau form - it came back to me a few days later. Why ? Because I hadn't included this one (totally spent) conviction. I was angry at the time, but it's probably a good introduction to my new work, where the seemingly innocuous slips in administration can lead to important consequences. It's a world where people can escape what seems like justice because the speed gun had not been calibrated recently, or where a piece of legal paper was not served within the number of days specified. I'll try to be more careful in future and not assume that anything is in anyway "trivial" where the law is concerned.

One thought on Speeding - is the time fast approaching when only the very rich will be able to afford the fuel needed to get their cars above the speed limit ?