SA speeding ticket for Briton withdrawn

[ford man xf]

Thursday March 27, 05:21 PM
SA speeding ticket for Briton withdrawn
An Englishman issued a ticket for speeding in the Adelaide Hills has had the fine withdrawn because he's never been in Australia.

David Smart, a 65-year-old former surveyor from Shorpe in northern England, was flabbergasted to receive a speeding ticket from South Australian Police.

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He was fined $196 for driving 8km/h over the speed limit in Littlehampton in the Adelaide Hills.

SA Police said they issued Mr Smart the ticket after the registered owner of the speeding vehicle, Kathryn Julia Fluin, signed a statutory declaration declaring the Englishman was driving the car at the time of the offence.

"I've never been to Australia, which is a wonderful country I'm sure, and I would love to go there one day," Mr Smart told AAP.

"And I've never had a ticket in my life, I'm pleased to say.

"The woman is obviously mistaken and where she got my name and address from I have no idea."

After consulting with Shorpe police, Mr Smart was advised not to pay the fine, which originally arrived in his letterbox last December.

However he received a stern reminder from SA Police, ordering him to pay up or risk being issued an even heftier fine.

The fine stated the car was caught speeding at 68km/h in a 60km/h zone on Adelaide Road, Littlehampton, at 9am on December 14, 2007.

The fine said Ms Fluin "affirmed in a statutory declaration that you were the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence".

"I went to my local police station and they advised me against payment because I haven't been there," Mr Smart said.

"I think if I get caught for speeding I'll have to give them Kathryn Fluin's name.

SA Police business services director Denis Patriarca said Mr Smart had been exonerated.

"As the nominated driver has disputed being the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence, his expiation notice has been withdrawn and police are following up with the registered owner," he said.

Ms Fluin, who couldn't be contacted, is likely to be charged with wilfully making a false statutory declaration, which carries a maximum penalty of four years jail.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/080326/2/169tl.html

[fmc351]

Rofl....

[DOC]

? some one pulls a little dodgy on an small speeding fine the sa gov threaten 4 years jail, yet the sa gov pulls dodgy speeding crap fines everyday across hundreds of people and walk away with it, it's a fair and balanced system we have.

[sgt_doofey]

Yeah, but declaring false information on a statutory declaration has absolutely nothing to do with speeding fines.

[FGII-XR6]

speeding 8 Ks over is not the worst thing you could do. commiting a deliberate criminal act of fraud is far worse . a stautory declaration is exactly that you are declareing to the police or court that the contents of the declaration is correct to the best of your knowledge. this person knowingly declared that a person who has never been in this country was driving at the time in an attempt to defraud the state. so the possibility of 4 years is not an "over reaction to a speeding fine" it is prosecution for a criminal offence

Originally Posted by DOC

? some one pulls a little dodgy on an small speeding fine the sa gov threaten 4 years jail, yet the sa gov pulls dodgy speeding crap fines everyday across hundreds of people and walk away with it, it's a fair and balanced system we have.

[Tobey]

Originally Posted by ford man xf

Thursday March 27, 05:21 PM

He was fined $196 for driving 8km/h over the speed limit in Littlehampton in the Adelaide Hills.

Thats a bit hefty for 8k's over in NSW its $77

[BHDOGS]

yeh here in sa it used to be 10-14kms over was 150....a few years back and now its still marked as 10-14kms over (even thou u can be caught doing 68 go figure)
it says its 176 for the fine plus 20 bucks for victims of crime levy....

[kyro_02]

lol.. this is awesome, i mean the fact you can nominate someone overseas as the driver, gives me ideas... :P not that i'll ever have to use that idea.... :P

[BA_Turbs]

A false Stat Dec is tantamount to Perjury (in Vic its the same thing), that's why the POSSIBLE jail term is 4 years. Its not about the speeding, its about lying in the stat dec.

[coolelxr]

This reminds me of the case currently in the NSW Supreme court about a former judge claiming his car was driven by a friend from the USA...only problem was they had passed away prior to the incident, so he blamed it on someone else.