Driver handed 42 points on his licence for a host of
offences including doing 109mph in a 50 zone AVOIDS
a ban - because he is in debt.
- Alex McFarlane, 50, caught speeding six times in three months in Essex
- On one occasion passenger leant out window and waved at speed camera
- Magistrates handed construction worker 42 points on his driving licence
- But he avoided ban by saying he would lose job and be unable to pay debts
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This ban was mandatory. The only way it could have been avoided was if it were to cause 'extreme hardship'. When I was training to be a 'Magistrate sitting as a judge' in Crown Court, I attended the appeal of a man who had just hit the 12 points through relatively minor offences and would lose his occupation. The knock-on effect was that his brother would do so too! The judge deemed that, although two families faced unemployment and all the attendant woes, this was only 'hardship' and not 'extreme hardship' - appeal denied. Given that - the CPS MUST appeal this appalling decision! Legal advisors are in place to ensure that things like this cannot happen. So what went wrong?
