A motorist was charged with obstruction of police activities. Officers in Grimsby, north-east Lincolnshire, pulled over Michael Thompson in July after they saw him flashing at a number of oncoming vehicles, in the attempt to warn them about a speed gun.
He was fined fined £175 (US$279) and ordered to pay £265 (US$412) in court costs and surcharges. The verdict was given in the in the Grimsby Magistrates’ Court last week. Thompson said he was only trying to warn motorists of the trap to prevent them braking suddenly when sighting it, causing rear-end collisions.
Many have questioned if this case is a good use of police resources. But an official CPS representative argued that cost is not the main thing to consider in such a case.
"When a file is provided to the CPS from the police, it is our duty to decide whether it presents a realistic prospect of conviction and whether a prosecution is in the public interest. In accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors a prosecution was deemed appropriate," a Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said.
Speeding is not something we try to encourage, but are allegedly there to make motorists slow down on dangerous sections of road, not to raise money. So if Tompson was slowing other cars down and not speeding them up, was he really “willfully obstructing a police officer”?
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