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159mph copper escapes punishment again

A policeman who drove at 159mph on a motorway has been found guilty of dangerous driving and given an absolute discharge.
Cameras on board Pc Mark Milton's unmarked car clocked him driving at high speeds on the M54 in Shropshire.

He was originally cleared of the same charge but the High Court overturned his acquittal and ordered a retrial.

But despite his "eye watering" speeds the judge at Ludlow Magistrates' Court gave Pc Milton an absolute discharge.

District Judge Peter Wallis said the 38-year-old from Telford, Shropshire, had "suffered enough" with two-and-a-half years of court proceedings.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/5284962.stm

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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He was just testing the car apparently. I suspect that's true, but why are they not given the facilities to test drive new cars off the road? If they are, then the guy's an idiot and should've been given the same sentence as any regular member of the public would've got.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If this was part of planned testing and driving skills (which it wasnt) then he should have got off.

    If, as this case seems to suggest, they have no planned or instituted testing programme then I assume this goes on all the time and we're all at risk.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote:
    If this was part of planned testing and driving skills (which it wasnt) then he should have got off.

    If, as this case seems to suggest, they have no planned or instituted testing programme then I assume this goes on all the time and we're all at risk.

    Isn't there two things here? Firstly that there should be something for police drivers to test and improve their skills. Secondly, because there isn't there only real way to do it is to do it on roads and it seems fair he's been given an aboslute discharge, (especially as its another disgraceful use of double jeopardy and to take two and half years for a speeding charge to be dealt with is a really quite crap).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NQA wrote:
    Isn't there two things here? Firstly that there should be something for police drivers to test and improve their skills. Secondly, because there isn't there only real way to do it is to do it on roads and it seems fair he's been given an aboslute discharge, (especially as its another disgraceful use of double jeopardy and to take two and half years for a speeding charge to be dealt with is a really quite crap).

    But he had just gone ahead and done it, if he'd told his station or his boss, or warned other police in the area then it would have been acceptable.

    We cant just allow any police officer speed anywhere without informing anyone, its bonkers.

    I'd agree about the double jepardy though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote:
    If this was part of planned testing and driving skills (which it wasnt) then he should have got off.

    Surely if that was the case, then the police officer would've gone to a race track or something?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    Surely if that was the case, then the police officer would've gone to a race track or something?

    You'd hope so, wouldn't you?

    As far as I know they do have facilities for that sort of thing, so I don't buy the 'well he didn't have a test track' excuse.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If F1, development, rally and other drivers can test their skills and vehicles on tracks, so can the police.

    The claim that police drivers can only test themselves on an open road the public is using is, to put it mildly, the biggest load of bollocks ever.

    Though probably not as big as the claim that the copper was really 'testing his skills' for the sake of him, the force and all of us.

    Next time you commit a crime chaps, just tell the judge to spare you any punishment as you will have suffered enough between the charges being brought and the trial taking place. It sure worked for this man.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know, that's what gets me. He was found guilty, yet somehow escaped punishment. The court case is punishment enough? Give me a fucking break. Maybe a paedophile should use that one in the future. After all, having your face plastered all over the front page of the newspaper as a paedo has to be pretty traumatic.

    Two years ago an idiot cop on a motorbike decided to overtake a car on a left turn. My stepdad and mum just happened to be going the other way and he smashed into them, and they went flying into a wall. If anyone else did this, it'd be an instant ban, no questions. But a cop on the other hand, nine points on his licence, the maximum they can give without banning him. And it didn't surprise us one bit.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The car's manufacturer doesn't test on public roads, so why should the car's purchaser.

    Still, the day a magistrate convicts a policeman is the day beelzebub comes to work shouting mush at his pack of huskies.

    And people still let these brainless racist cuntstains run the English justice system?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So, the district judge believed the defendant had "suffered enough" following court proceedings which went on for over two years. No. The only people who have suffered are the taxpayers who have had to finance this entire fiasco. He should have been banned off the roads for a very long time, and that much was obvious far earlier.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I wonder if I decided to test my Fiesta at 159mph down the A1 I would get a conditional discharge :chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote:
    I wonder if I decided to test my Fiesta at 159mph down the A1 I would get a conditional discharge :chin:
    "A Newcastle man has been arrested by police after allegedly being caught driving a Ford Fiesta at 159mph down the A1 earlier today. Police said that, as the man was arrested, he kept shouting 'conditional discharge' and 'you utter cunts'..."
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you can get a Fiesta to go at 159mph you should be given a doctorate, not a ban :D
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Aladdin wrote:
    If you can get a Fiesta to go at 159mph you should be given a doctorate, not a ban :D
    :lol:

    Some guy in a Nissan Primera got a ticket for doing something like 1,500mph.

    Afte he complained they found the camera was faulty.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think the 159 mph bit was the most dangerous bit, after all motorways are long staright roads where everyone is going in the same direction

    it's when he was speeding through the 30 & 40 mph zones at like double the speed limit and there's people crossing, etc that he was most endangering the public.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think the 159 mph bit was the most dangerous bit,

    ?

    The thing is, he's still able to cause an accident, even though/if he was going the same way as the general public.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    it's when he was speeding through the 30 & 40 mph zones at like double the speed limit and there's people crossing, etc that he was most endangering the public.

    I'd really like to know where you heard this, as I've seen nothing to remotely hint that this was the case. Cheers :)

    What I can say, quite categorically, is that I'm familiar with the roads this officer will have been using. I was using them one night last year when I 'gelled' with my new car. I'd have been going at least as fast as this guy was - it's a damned good stretch of road for driving on quickly.

    Any fool can go and buy a seriously fast machine for a few thousand pounds. Police drivers need to be in a position to be able to catch criminals, and to do so as safely as possible. If this requires the officer to 'hone' his skills on an empty road at night, then so be it. I have little respect for the majority of police officers in cars - they take the piss, they really do. But pukka police drivers have the greatest of respect from me - they're the best. And they're exactly what Mr & Mrs Joe Public will be expecting the day someone kidnaps their child and is being followed by a police officer.

    Personally, I hope the poor sod quits. Until we stop believing this 'speed kills' bollocks fed to us by the government, he has little chance of doing the job to the standard it deserves.
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    Well, if he can run that fast he could escape anything. [/silly joke]
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