The defendant pleaded guilty by post in March 1999 to speeding offences. The magistrates wanted to consider and (unlawfully) issued a warrant backed for bail. The warrant was not served until 2001. The appeal took a further long period.
Held: The delay was so unreasonable for this kind of case as to amount to an infringement of the defendant’s rights. There had been no difficulty created however in deciding the case, and therefore the conviction stood. The issue was remedied to the extent possible, by treating the delay as an exceptional hardship, and reducing the consequent totting up disqualification to 5 months. An order for costs was confirmed against the CPS.
Judges:
Mr Justice Richards
Citations:
[2004] EWHC 595 (Admin), Times 07-Jun-2004
Links:
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 8
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Magistrates, Road Traffic, Human Rights
Updated: 24 July 2022; Ref: scu.194998