UK Parliament / Open data

Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 168A:"After Clause 43, insert the following new clause—"    ““PROSECUTION OF OFFENCES    In section 64A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (c. 60) (photographing of suspects etc) after paragraph (a) of subsection (1B), insert— ““(aa)   a person reported for summons for a motoring offence,””.”” The noble Viscount said: I should love not to have to move this amendment. However, it is another amendment introduced by the police to another piece of legislation that will have a profound impact on roads policing. I have previously referred to this in a speech. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act amended the Police and Criminal Evidence Act to permit certain offenders to be photographed at the scene of the crime. Indeed, as I have previously suggested, a driver who commits the offence of not wearing a seatbelt may have his or her photograph taken when issued with a fixed-penalty ticket. That facility is denied in circumstances when a driver is prosecuted for anti-social driving by means of a summons—a process that inevitably takes a long time to conclude and creates a weakness in the system. On cross-examination, officers have had to admit that with the passage of time and the number of people with whom they have come into contact, their recollection of the particular offender is compromised—a weakness which many defence lawyers seek to exploit. With this amendment, I propose to close this loophole. I beg to move.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
674 c1293-4 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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