Between May and December 2019, the driver of a Black Vauxhall Corsa was responsible for four speeding offences across Avon and Somerset, Gwent and South Wales Police force area.
As with any other speeding offence, Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) were sent for each offence to the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the offence.
The registered keeper, Mr.Noel Anderson, who was living in the Bristol area at the time, signed and returned all NIP’s naming a David Smith from an address in Bridgend as the driver at the time of each offence.
Notice of intended prosecutions were then issued to David Smith where shortly after, the Central Ticket Office received completed documentation purporting to be from Mr. Smith admitting his involvement in the speeding offences.
A total of four offences had been identified which were claimed by the Registered Keeper of the vehicle to have been perpetrated by David Smith. However the Central Ticket Office (CTO) were unable to find any record of this person and were unable to process some of the offences further. In one of the offences, due to non-compliance, it was referred to the courts where the nominated person was found guilty and issued with points and fine. ‘David Smith’ did not respond to any correspondence and he was found guilty on his absence and issued with a fine and penalty points.
Because there were now three offences in Wales where the same person had been nominated, it was sent over for further investigations in June 2020, where PC Simmonds, a Constable Enquiry Officer attached to GoSafe opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the speeding offences.
A protracted investigation identified witnesses to the case who supported the police in providing statements that helped prove David Smith did not reside at the address given by the registered keeper.
PC Simmonds was able to link the address in Bridgend to Mr. Anderson, who was believed to have had access to the premises thus intercepting the mail addressed to David Smith, completing and signing the documents then returning them to the Central Ticket Office in an attempt to avoid prosecution.
Enquiries then focussed on the movements of Mr. Anderson in and around the times of the offences, where the use of various advanced technologies available to the police enabled PC Simmonds to pinpoint his movements and prove his involvement in the offences.
A file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service who advised the officer to charge Mr. Anderson with four counts of perverting the course of justice.
On the 29th December, 2020, the case was heard at Cardiff Magistrates Court, where it was sent to Cardiff Crown Court for sentencing on the 26th January 2021.
Neil Anderson pleaded guilty to the four counts of perverting the course of justice at Cardiff Crown Court on the 10th March, 2021. He was handed a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, given 180 hours of unpaid work to be completed by March 2022 and ordered to pay a total of £940 within 3 months of the sentencing. This applied to each of the 4 offences to run concurrently.
Sgt Wayne Pearce, South Wales Police GoSafe Coordinator said:
“The defendant in this case initially committed driving offences which may have been dealt with by means of a Drivers awareness course, Fixed Penalty or a court appearance, for which the outcome may have been points on his licence and a fine.
However, this individual made the choice to falsify information, with the intention of avoiding such prosecution.
South Wales Police and GoSafe are committed to reducing casualties on Welsh roads, and will endeavour to fully investigate anyone who attempts to avoid prosecution.”
Teresa Ciano, GoSafe Partnership Manager said:
“The excellent work demonstrated by PC Simmonds shows the real consequence for people who go to great lengths to avoid having speeding offences registered in their names.
The sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence of perverting the course of justice and highlights the risk in the attitude of the offender towards speeding, which is a factor in serious and fatal collisions on our roads.
In GoSafe, we have a dedicated team of 10 enquiry officers and a number of support staff across Wales who are determined to investigate these cases and bring offenders to justice. “