The court considered a decision by Justices to exclude evidence under section 8 of the 1984 Act where a police officer had allegedly failed to follow the guidance in relation to a roadside breath test.
Held: The procedure was not required by the Act and sent the case back to the Justices with a direction to admit the constable’s evidence of that test. The failure of a constable to wait until after twenty minutes after driver’s last drink did not invalidate the request for a roadside breath test. The Act is not to be defeated by technicalities.
Citations:
Times 13-Apr-1998, [1998] EWHC Admin 258, [1999] RTR 109
Links:
Statutes:
Road Traffic Act 1988 3 4 5, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 8
Cited by:
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Coulter Admn 29-Jun-2005
The magistrates stated a case where the police officer requiring a breath speciment, had not allowed a wait of 20 minutes where the defendant had recently eaten a ‘tic-tac’, contrary to the procedure. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Road Traffic
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.80022