I have had a couple of cases recently where clients have spoken to me about officers pulling them over for offences but then using their discretion not to impose the wrath of the law upon them.

One was in relation to a seatbelt offence where the person I spoke to was stopped for driving without a seatbelt on. He accepted that he did not have the seatbelt on and was simply given a warning on that occasion.

He then drove away failing to put his seatbelt on again and the officer pulled him over. He felt aggrieved that he was stopped for a second time but I had to advise him that if he accepted that he had committed the offence on the second occasion, after receiving the initial warning, he would not have any prospects of success in relation to defending the matter.

The second case was an incident involving a young driver who accepted that he had driven at more than 100mph in a 70mph limit. The officers who stopped him at the scene indicated that they were willing to put 94mph on the ticket so that he could be dealt with by way of the Fixed Penalty system. The young man in question called me to ask whether or not he could contest the matter on the basis that the officers had put unreliable information on the ticket.

In giving him advice I said that he could obviously contest the allegation but this would be based on the premise that he was actually doing a higher speed than that alleged and therefore the officer's evidence was unreliable. I advised my client that this was a dangerous argument to make and did not in effect amount to a defence.

I asked my young client to consider whether or not he felt the officers in question were in fact trying to do him a favour and he agreed that they were. On this basis he indicated that he was going to take the matter on the chin and deal with it by way of a fixed penalty rather than take the matter to Court.

I speak to a lot of people on almost a daily basis who feel aggrieved by the fact that they have been caught. I get a lot of people who send me e-mails simply saying I have been stopped for driving at 39mph in a 30mph limit how can I get off?

As a Solicitor, I always give honest and reliable advice. I will never encourage you to pervert the course of justice or make up a defence.

The starting point always has to be whether or not you accept the allegation in question. It is no good simply feeling aggrieved because you were caught as this will be treated as 'sour grapes'.

You have to have a defence to the allegation if you are going to take the matter to Court. It is perfectly acceptable for you to say that you do not accept that you were doing the speed alleged or that you did not drive in the manner described and then try and cast a doubt on the officers evidence.

Amber Traffic Lights!

I have had quite a few questions recently in relation to contravening red traffic lights.

Quite a few people have said that they did not go through on red and in fact, went through on amber. Please bear in mind that it is an offence to go through an amber traffic light unless you can show that it was not safe to stop.

Therefore if you stand up in front of the Magistrates' Court and say that you are not guilty of contravening a red traffic light because you in fact when through on amber, you will still be convicted unless you adduce evidence to show that it was not safe to stop.