Press journalist has his day in court

“Honi soit qui mal y pense” declared the motto on the royal crest hanging above the magistrates bench. “Let evil happen to him who thinks evil.”

I wasn’t thinking evil as I stood in the witness box at Selby Magistrates Court. I wasn’t really thinking anything at all as defence solicitor Sandra Keen rose to her feet and fixed me with a look. I was simply feeling suddenly and unaccountably nervous.

I was there to give evidence against Darren French, a York man accused of using his mobile phone while driving along the A64 towards York from Tadcaster.

I was one of four witnesses who had seen him. In October 2007 Press photographer Mike Tipping and I had been invited to join traffic officer Andy Morton and Sergeant Graham Carroll on patrol in an unmarked car.

The patrol was part of a police crackdown on motorists using mobiles while driving. The idea was that we would write a feature for The Press highlighting the police operation and explaining the dangers of using a phone while at the wheel of a car.

French was one of several motorists stopped that day as we patrolled the A64 in an unmarked police Volvo. The vast majority held their hands up and accepted the fixed penalty £60 fine and three points on their licence.

French, however, insisted he hadn’t been using a phone, but counting money. As he had every right to do, he chose to argue his case in court.

Which was why I was standing in the witness box at Selby magistrates court. All four of us in the police car that day testified that we had seen French apparently holding a phone in one hand as he drove, and moving his fingers or thumb in a way that looked as though he was texting.

I had already gone through my evidence with prosecutor Jeff Lill, explaining that I saw French clearly through the windows of the police car as it drew alongside French’s BMW. He had what I assumed to be a mobile phone in his hand and his fingers were moving, I said.

Mr Lill asked me if I had any doubt that French had been using a mobile phone. I paused for a moment, replaying what I had seen in my head, then said: “No.”

That was when Sandra Keen rose to her feet and fixed me with that look. “Mr Lewis”, she said, “You’ve just said you were in no doubt it was a mobile phone, but earlier in your evidence you said you assumed it was a mobile phone. Did you assume it was a mobile phone because of what somebody in the vehicle said?”

I kept calm and replayed back in my head what I had seen. “I have every reason to believe it was a mobile phone. I saw the driver of the BMW holding this object in his hand, and saw his fingers move.” I demonstrated by gesturing with my own hand.

Being cross-examined in public like this by an experienced lawyer is unsettling. I stuck to my statement, however, and the magistrates decided the evidence of the four prosecution witnesses was “more credible” than that of French and his co-witness, a friend who had been a passenger in his car.

French was found guilty, fined £100 and ordered to pay £300 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge. His licence was endorsed with three penalty points.

It had taken a long time – almost 15 months since the offence was committed, during which TC Morton had visited me at home to take a statement and the hearing had been postponed once because of a lack of court time.

But eventually French found himself having to pay £415 instead of the original £60 fixed penalty – and he still got those three points on his licence.

Speaking afterwards, Sgt Carroll said the case sent out a strong message.

“North Yorkshire Police are committed to reducing casualties on the roads,” he said.

“We will continue to robustly target those offenders that are identified as the main casualty risks – speeding, drink-driving and mobile phone usage.

“This case revolved around someone who was identified as having committed a traffic offence.

“He elected to have a day in court rather than being dealt with by a fixed penalty. That is his right.

“We will not give up targeting people because it may take a bit of time to get to court. We have a duty to the public.”

TC Morton has no time for those who say the police should spend their time targeting “real” criminals .

He said. “Having had to break the news to families of the loss of a loved one on many occasions, I will do anything within my power to reduce the possibility of deaths occurring on our roads.”

Mobile madness

North Yorkshire Police are continuing to target motorists who use mobile phones while driving, as well as those who speed and drink drive.

In the ten months of Operation Anvil, which has been running since March last year, 1,297 motorists in North Yorkshire have been dealt with for mobile phone offences.

That compares with 292 people dealt with for drink-driving over the same period.

There is clear evidence that using a mobile while driving does affect your ability to drive safely. A study by the Transport Research Laboratory found that using a mobile phone caused mental distraction, meant a driver had to keep shifting from looking at the phone to looking at the road, and also impeded a driver’s ability to control the steering wheel.

Using a mobile phone could significantly impair a driver’s ability to keep a safe distance from other cars, and also increased reaction times, the report said. When travelling at motorway speeds, it would take somebody who was texting an average of three car lengths longer to stop than somebody who was not using a mobile phone. This could easily make the difference between causing and avoiding an accident or between a fatal and non-fatal collision.

The effect of using a mobile phone on reaction times was significantly worse than if someone had consumed the legal limit of alcohol, the report said.