Congratulations to this bloke who spend his own hard-earned cash to prove his innocence. Many people wouldn't have bothered. 

What kind of society has Nu Labour created when ordinary people daren't stand up for themselves? It should not be up to a lorry driver to go to this kind of length to clear his name.

Mind you, and I hesitate to point the finger at three police officers,  were they all mistaken? If so, why? Was this a malicious accusation?  Most people would have forked out for the £60 fine!

The law really is an ass!

Read this which was sent in by an avid Speedaholics.com reader:

A LORRY driver has won a David and Goliath court battle after three police officers claimed he used his mobile phone behind the wheel.

Anthony Jones faced a £60 fine after being told he had been spotted using the phone as he drove.

But Mr Jones, 41, from Denton, knew he was innocent and spent £2,600 to collect the evidence he needed to clear his name and fight the fine in court. His defence team used a tachometer report - which records the movement of his lorry - and a list from his mobile provider to prove he was not on the phone at the time.

After this was revealed to magistrates in Tameside, they cleared him of the offence and also said the £2,600 he had spent would be paid back.

The court heard how the officers had stopped the skip-lorry driver in Ashton town centre last May. All three claimed they had seen him holding something to his ear, but could not be sure it was a mobile phone.

Information from Mr Jones's mobile provider showed he was not on the phone at that time and the tachometer showed that the lorry was stationary.

Mr Jones took the case to court after refusing to pay the fine on `principle'.

He and his wife Debbie revealed later that it could have ruined them.

"There were times when I felt like packing it in and paying up," said Mr Jones. "But it was a matter of principle. I had done nothing wrong and I was not guilty. I'm an honest guy."

He said not everyone accused of using a phone at the wheel would have been as fortunate as him, as a friend had helped by putting up the money to get the reports and, as a lorry driver, he also had the tachometer chart.

"Not everybody would have had that," he said.

He said: "This has cost taxpayers like me money that it shouldn't have done. The whole thing has been a nightmare and shouldn't have happened."

Magistrates heard the officer in charge had failed to take data from the phone, so the prosecution had to rely on the memories of the three officers.

Defence solicitor Carl Millar said: "It was clear that the case should not have reached the courts. The prosecution had to prove without any doubt that Mr Jones was on his phone.

"They clearly didn't do that."

Last update: 10-02-2008 08:57

I bring you this story because it does underline that police officers are sometimes not up to the job. Again, the surprise is that another officer had the courage to bring this action.

This is part of the story that was sent to me: 

According to Bert Esquierdo, all he did was shake his head at the policeman who had driven out in front of his car and cut him up.

What happened next is not exactly clear but it sparked a road-rage attack which left the innocent motorist injured and his family suffering from the effects of CS gas.

The 53-year-old businessman was assaulted at the side of a busy road, in full view of at least 11 people, including his wife Elizabeth and his 10-year-old son John.

"The guy had driven out in front of me and cut me up and - sitting behind the wheel - I shook my head. It was road rage. He just flipped. He just totally flipped," Mr Esquierdo explained yesterday.

Former police constable Chester Smith, 37, was yesterday sentenced to 150 hours' community service at Ayr Sheriff Court.

Smith, once hailed a hero and officially commended for bravery, had already resigned from the force, after spending months suspended from duty.

Sheriff John Montgomery said: "There can be no doubt that this crime involved abuse of the power which society invested in you as a police officer."

Smith pled guilty to assault. He had seized hold of his victim by the arms and body, handcuffed him, and forced his face repeatedly to the ground. Yesterday the victim, for the first time, told the story of what happened to him on Saturday, February 4, 2006, in Cumnock, Ayrshire.

"We were on our way to the football," said Mr Esquierdo, who was, at the time, president of a local junior club, Lugar Boswell Thistle. "We never got there."

Last update: 10-02-2008 08:51