Three counts of Perverting the Course of Justice

On 13/11/09, John Richardson, 75 from Budleigh Salterton, Exeter, appeared at Plymouth Crown Court charged with three counts of Perverting the Course of Justice.

On receiving the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) / section 172 notice request for driver details, Richardson had nominated his son, at a false address in Austria, as the driver at the time of the offence. It later transpired that this address was false and he had used his son’s middle name as his first name

A Police Officer from the Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership subsequently investigated this matter. These investigations revealed that since August 2006, when Richardson’s car was recorded travelling at excess speed in the Dorset area, he had embarked on a path of deception in order to avoid prosecution. On two previous occasions he had avoided prosecution by falsely nominating his son as the driver. His son was totally unaware of this situation. Considerable time and effort was dedicated to this which included tracing Richardson’s son in Australia to obtain a statement.

Richardson was sentenced to 3 months for each count a total of 9 months, suspended for 12 months, disqualified for 12 months, received a residential order and ordered to pay a total of £3,404.

In summing up Judge Meeke praised the tenacity of the Enquiry Officer, PC Dave Williams adding “It is a popular misconception that giving false details on official Police forms will result in avoiding prosecution.” He emphasised how seriously the Judiciary take these matters and said “If the Courts do not impose appropriate sentences then the Courts fail the public.”