Is it enough?
He did not pleed guilty until last minute
Had previously tried "other reasons" for being 48mph (65%) above the speed limit
The former head of a police force driving school has been banned from driving after admitting speeding at 118mph on the M9 motorway near Falkirk.
Paul Gee, 48, who recently retired from Durham Constabulary, had claimed he was carrying out a "risk assessment" for his force's driving school at the time.
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard he was in uniform and driving a marked car when caught by a mobile camera.
Gee was banned from driving for three months and fined £500.
The former inspector, from Heddon On The Wall, Northumberland, had originally pleaded not guilty to the speeding offence, committed on 3 November 2006.
But minutes before his trial was due to begin, Gee admitted speeding while on his way to pick up a fellow officer from a police nursing home.
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Is it enough?
Specifically with regard to the penalty for this offence? Is it unusually different from what anyone else might expect?
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Should have used a better lawyer. Football players seem to manage.
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LOL - can you imagine a high ranking copper turning up to court with Nick Freeman!!!!!?
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I admire the Police for prosecuting their own officers in these situations. I always suspected there`d be a nod or a wink or a `funny`handshake with the CPS or Judge....
Seemingly not ! I`m impressed.
Seems he was not a`Perry Mason` then?
( a simple humour, to any forum members currently wearing the robes and tri-corn hat with four balls)
Regards
Edited by oilrag on 14/01/2008 at 16:12
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Bet if it had of been Mr Joe Bloggs caught doing this it would have been a more substantial ban, possible custodial and with an advanced re test awarded.
Trawled the internet to see what I could drag up - seems the courts are getting softer ;)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post?v=i&t=12055
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Well that's the issue here... if the general public drive this fast (in itself not necessarily a dangerous thing on a clear motorway in good weather?) then they will surely face harsher penalties, which isn't fair.
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I'm keeping relatively schtumm on this one, still worn out from the thread I started a few months ago about the Northumbria motorbike police being let off with speeding in the Scottish Borders - some parallels to this story, I guess, although it's interesting to see that there doesn't seem to have been any attempt by his own force to defend him in this case.
Retired at 48? Lucky man!
Edited by XantKing on 15/01/2008 at 01:05
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Well he will have been doing the job since he was 18 (30 years service) and paid hefty contributions into the force pension scheme, I'm not trying to say that the old school pension system isn't a damned good one, but it's not exactly like they don't have to work for it!
Edited by Blue {P} on 15/01/2008 at 01:10
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Some more info on this in today's paper (unforunately no link on line).
He was in Uniform driving a marked BMW from Durham to The Northern Police Convalescence Centre in Perthshire.
Was clocked at 118mph by Scamera van on bridge.
At last minute he had braked and changed lane to (possibly) avoid the camera.
He then made a retrospective attempt to claim that he had decided to test the road for Police training purposes.
In my book is that not perverting the course of justice?
Also why would a senior officer in a marked Traffic car be sent hundreds of miles to pick someone up? This not a waste of resources?
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What was he doing, out of his force area, in a marked car, in uniform, to pick someone up?
The key part is "recently retired"
He was a senior officer. They dont normally retire at 48 (tho like most coppers he can)
He retired before it went to court, just in case his pension was compromised by the later enquiry into his actions I feel.
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I'm keeping relatively schtumm on this one still worn out from the thread I started a few months ago about the Northumbria motorbike police being let off with speeding in the Scottish Borders - some parallels to this story I guess although it's interesting to see that there doesn't seem to have been any attempt by his own force to defend him in this case.
Just to show he was not picked on because it was an English/Durham Police Force
An Aberdeen Constable appeared in Falkirk court yesterday charged with disorderly conduct @ a Cup tie with Aberdeen FC. Not only did Central Police charge him they made him appear from custody on the Monday - Free bed & board for a fellow police officer.
With regard to Police retiring in late 40s /early 50's it could only be a Public Service (i.e. Taxpayer!!) that could fund such a retiral scheme - 1/2 pay 17 years before OAP age needs serious paymenst - 11% by the employee and maybe some 30+% from the employer.
Most private company employers I know of pay 6-10% and the employee similar and that is generous.
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TBH, I dont mind the Police getting a fat pension. Its a tough job, you need to be fit, and if you are in the front line you cant cut it past 50 anyway, so you need to be culled for fitter and younger men. The pension is compensation for the fact your working life is shorter in that job.
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>The pension is compensation for the fact your working life is shorter in that job.
And it's not only public sector workers who can retire early. Footballers, athletes and circus acts eg. high-wire performers can retire at 35.
Kevin...
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About 10 years ago a colleague of mine was caught doing 120mph+ on an empty motorway on his Fireblade motorcycle. They had to follow him in the police helicopter, they couldn't catch him in their patrol cars. They only caught him because he pulled off at a junction - he hadn't even realised the police were after him.
He got a lengthy ban and six weeks in prison.
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English magistrates guidelines suggest a shorter, 56 day, ban and fine up to £1k. Also 6 points. So does not exactly look as though matey was let off. But fine could be 2.5K on a motorway which seems redolent of press led policy making.
Edited by Bromptonaut on 15/01/2008 at 20:55
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English magistrates guidelines suggest a shorter 56 day ban and fine up to £1k. Also 6 points. So does not exactly look as though matey was let off. But fine could be 2.5K on a motorway which seems redolent of press led policy making.
Serves him right then for trying it on in Scotland. Reckon his penalty was stiffer becuase he had tried every feeble excuse in the book to get off, wasting considerable police, procurator fiscal, and court time.
He probebly would have got away with it if he had taken the common courtesy of notifying the local force(s) beforehand that he was in the area - but he didn't.
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Well I know I said I wouldn't say much about it, but it was reported in yesterday's Glasgow Herald that the judge in the case was unimpressed that he hadn't followed protocol on notifying the force in whose area he was driving. The judge was also reported to have said that he didn't care how good a driver he was, the laws of physics still applied, especially with regards to stopping distances.
Sorry, no link as the Herald don't appear to have put the story online. But both points I made with the speeding motorbike police story, only to be largely argued against on the forum. Oh well, at least one representative of the justice system agrees with me!
For the record, I mentioned the retirement age thing merely as a genuine aside that he truly was a lucky fella to be free by 48, I don't have strong opinions either way about police or other civil service pensions, nor would I necessarily feel that this was really the place to discuss them if I had!
That he was an English officer in Scotland doesn't really affect matters for me either, if it was a Scottish officer in England, I'd expect the same processes to be in place. But it is a curious thing that all the northern English forces seem to prefer training in Scotland - the roads in the Borders and Fife that they seem to choose are certainly no emptier than the ones they could use in Cumbria/Northumberland etc, with the latter presumably having the advantage that they will be the roads they will go on to police and require familiarisation with. Indeed, anyone who's ever tried to cross the Forth Road Bridge at weekend for the last 6 months would probably argue that they're more so during works on it...!
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What it missed out was, though he was in uniform and in a marked car, as he wasn't sworn in as a police officer of Scotland, he technically was NOT a police officer! (They have to be sworn in in Scotland using different oath, as Scots law is so different). It's merely a courtesy that they are "accepted" as police. So far as I know, only Northumbria, Cumbria, Dumfries & Galloway and Lothian & Borders routinely have cross-border agreements and have officers sworn in in both countries.
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