Motorist beats 90mph speeding charge !

A motorist prosecuted for speeding at 98mph has escaped a driving ban - after proving that his old banger can only go 85mph.
Dale
Lyle, 21, was stunned when he was told a mobile speed camera had
clocked him at nearly 100mph in his 1.3 litre Honda Civic.
He contested the accusation in court and magistrates challenged him to "prove it" by gathering evidence to support his claim.
Mr
Lyle, who had sold the 14-year-old car, bought it back for £600 and
paid an independent driving expert £600 to take it on a two-mile test
circuit at top speed.






Dale Lyle, 21, with his 1994 Honda Civic which he proved was not capable of hitting 98mph The
results showed that even when driven flat-out the Honda could only do
85.4mph in fourth gear and 81.3mph in fifth - proving his innocence.
Financial
worker Dale, from Staple Hill, Bristol, who has a clean licence,
presented his evidence in court and was cleared of speeding.
Today the finance worker described the one-year court battle as a "complete shambles".
He
said: "The whole thing has been a complete shambles and waste of money.
It's shocking how hard it has been for me to prove my innocence.
"I was in total disbelief when I opened the letter because I've never driven my car over the speed limit let alone at 98mph.
"It's such a small car I wouldn't feel safe - it's a glorified Japanese shopping trolley.
"I
told the magistrates 'I'm not being funny but this car is ancient and
has 130,000 miles on the clock - there's no way it will do that speed'."I was very nervous and my heart was going 90 to dozen but they just turned around to me and said 'prove it'. So I did."
Dale
obtained the mobile speed camera footage of his alleged offence and
believes the speed camera was confused because there are three cars in
the frame at the time. He accused the police of "picking on innocent
motorists"."The video evidence the Crown Prosecution Service
sent me was just appalling," he said. "They are just picking on
innocent motorists.
"When the three-minute film starts
the mobile speed camera is panning into the sky, then focuses on the
middle lane but it doesn't take any readings."Then you see the
operator point the camera at me as I pull out into the third lane but
cars on the inside lanes obstruct the view."When the 98mph
reading flashes up there is another car in the picture - I think the
camera must have confused the distance with the other car."It makes you wonder how many people say 'fine, give me the points' when they are not guilty."I'm
really glad I fought the system and won but I think I will have trouble
getting the money I spent back." Dale, who had faced a maximum £1,000
fine and six-month ban for the speeding charge, has now been told that
the case against him has been dropped.But he needs to return to court to ask magistrates for £1,200 compensation to cover his costs.
A
CPS spokesman said: "We came to the conclusion that there was no longer
sufficient evidence to provide a prospect of a conviction."Recompense is a matter between the defendant and the court."




Fair play to him but it does beg the question that how many other motorists have they prosecuted when obviously their equipment s faulty.

I hope the court sees fit to compensate him for his expenses, it's ridiculous to expect a defendant to have to fund proving his innocence himself.