OMEN
09-04-2006, 09:04 PM
Angry driver blew chance of beating speed camera ticket
WHAT Craig Moore did not know when he blew up a roadside camera to destroy evidence of his speeding was that the blast triggered the mechanism and captured him on film.
Moore, 28, a railway worker from Doncaster, had been flashed by the camera when he was speeding on Mottram Road, Hyde, Greater Manchester. He returned with a quantity of explosive hoping to destroy the evidence, caused £11,700 of damage to the camera top, but did not realise that his picture had been taken once again and that the image showing his vehicle’s registration number was stored safely in the machine’s base.
Moore, who admitted the offence yesterday at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, was remanded on conditional bail until September 6, when he will be sentenced. The maximum penalty for destroying a speed camera is ten years’ jail.
None of the circumstances surrounding Moore’s action was aired in open court, but sources close to the case said that after being caught by the speed camera the first time, he feared that an accumulation of points on his licence might lead to a driving ban, which could lose him his job. Twelve penalty points can result in a ban.
Moore was said then to have acquired a quantity of Thermite, a powdered mixture of aluminium and iron oxide which creates extremely high temperatures when ignited and is widely used on the railway for welding rails.
Far from destroying the evidence of Moore’s earlier speeding, however, the explosion jogged the camera into taking a second picture of his van and its registration number. Police inquiries led to a speedy arrest.
Agreeing to a request from Timothy Savage, Moore’s counsel, for an adjournment to allow for pre-sentencing reports, Judge Adrian Lyon ordered Moore not to contact any witnesses while he remained free on bail. The judge gave no indication as to what the sentence might be.
Had Moore admitted the original speeding offence, he would almost certainly have been fined the usual fixed penalty of £60, and had three points added to his licence. But, according to sources, he felt that his job was in jeopardy.
“He went to great lengths to cover his tracks and escape the sack,” one court source said. “There are a lot of drivers out there who will resort to all sorts of measures to get out of being done for speeding. But blowing up the speed camera really takes the biscuit.”
Speed cameras rank among the most assaulted pieces of equipment in the country: hundreds have been set on fire, uprooted, spray-painted and even shot at by disgruntled motorists. Last year nearly £800,000 of damage was done to speed cameras in 14 of Britain’s regional safety camera partnerships — more than double the bill in the same 14 regions for the previous year.
EXCUSES, EXCUSES
# John Hopwood, 44, moved a 40mph sign into a 30mph zone to avoid a fine after being caught speeding twice on cameras. He sent a photo of the moved sign to authorities but was caught and jailed for 56 days by Stockport magistrates last month for perverting the course of justice
# Jeffrey Stott, 41, of Oldham, was jailed for three years after admitting being paid to claim falsely that he had been at the wheel of more than 50 cars that had been caught speeding
# The former Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine escaped a fine for doing 63mph in a 50mph limit in 2003 after claiming that they could not remember who had been at the wheel
Times online
WHAT Craig Moore did not know when he blew up a roadside camera to destroy evidence of his speeding was that the blast triggered the mechanism and captured him on film.
Moore, 28, a railway worker from Doncaster, had been flashed by the camera when he was speeding on Mottram Road, Hyde, Greater Manchester. He returned with a quantity of explosive hoping to destroy the evidence, caused £11,700 of damage to the camera top, but did not realise that his picture had been taken once again and that the image showing his vehicle’s registration number was stored safely in the machine’s base.
Moore, who admitted the offence yesterday at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, was remanded on conditional bail until September 6, when he will be sentenced. The maximum penalty for destroying a speed camera is ten years’ jail.
None of the circumstances surrounding Moore’s action was aired in open court, but sources close to the case said that after being caught by the speed camera the first time, he feared that an accumulation of points on his licence might lead to a driving ban, which could lose him his job. Twelve penalty points can result in a ban.
Moore was said then to have acquired a quantity of Thermite, a powdered mixture of aluminium and iron oxide which creates extremely high temperatures when ignited and is widely used on the railway for welding rails.
Far from destroying the evidence of Moore’s earlier speeding, however, the explosion jogged the camera into taking a second picture of his van and its registration number. Police inquiries led to a speedy arrest.
Agreeing to a request from Timothy Savage, Moore’s counsel, for an adjournment to allow for pre-sentencing reports, Judge Adrian Lyon ordered Moore not to contact any witnesses while he remained free on bail. The judge gave no indication as to what the sentence might be.
Had Moore admitted the original speeding offence, he would almost certainly have been fined the usual fixed penalty of £60, and had three points added to his licence. But, according to sources, he felt that his job was in jeopardy.
“He went to great lengths to cover his tracks and escape the sack,” one court source said. “There are a lot of drivers out there who will resort to all sorts of measures to get out of being done for speeding. But blowing up the speed camera really takes the biscuit.”
Speed cameras rank among the most assaulted pieces of equipment in the country: hundreds have been set on fire, uprooted, spray-painted and even shot at by disgruntled motorists. Last year nearly £800,000 of damage was done to speed cameras in 14 of Britain’s regional safety camera partnerships — more than double the bill in the same 14 regions for the previous year.
EXCUSES, EXCUSES
# John Hopwood, 44, moved a 40mph sign into a 30mph zone to avoid a fine after being caught speeding twice on cameras. He sent a photo of the moved sign to authorities but was caught and jailed for 56 days by Stockport magistrates last month for perverting the course of justice
# Jeffrey Stott, 41, of Oldham, was jailed for three years after admitting being paid to claim falsely that he had been at the wheel of more than 50 cars that had been caught speeding
# The former Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine escaped a fine for doing 63mph in a 50mph limit in 2003 after claiming that they could not remember who had been at the wheel
Times online