Red light offence judge must pay £5000

13.02.2013

A barrister and deputy High Court judge has been ordered to pay almost £5,000 for 'wasting time' after a year-long battle over a red light offence.
Kuldip Singh QC was travelling at 64mph in his Mercedes C-Class in November 2011 when he triggered a traffic light camera 1.4 seconds after it turned red.
He then began his lengthy battle to challenge the offence and tried to have the charge thrown out, costing a total of £4,769.
The case was listed seven times and there were four court hearings within a 14-month period. Three of the hearings were prosecuted by lawyer Andrew Perry, on behalf of London CPS.
Singh (58) claimed he was never given the option of paying an on-the-spot fine and that his speed should not have been taken into consideration when prosecuting him.
At one point he also claimed the device used to catch him was not Home Office Type Approved and complained he did not have the right to a fair trial.
He finally pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court on February 12, 2013 after a judge ruled there was no abuse of process by the prosecution.
District Judge Quentin Purdy said: "For reasons I well understand, but I fear Mr Singh does not, the lengthy and extensive paperwork overwhelmed the City of London traffic prosecution team and indeed the Crown Prosecution Service, which is simply under-resourced to deal with such paperwork."
Singh was told if he pleaded guilty he would be sentenced only on the issue of crossing the red light.He was given three points on his licence and orderd to pay a £60 fine, a £15 victim surcharge and costs of £4,769.
After the case Andrew Perry said: "Together with the City of London Police and their local CPS, I am very pleased that the court has finally seen through the charade Mr Singh was perpetrating on us all.
"There is no absolute right to a fixed penalty for a red light offence, nor anything wrong with taking speed into account.
"Had Mr Singh's claims been accepted by the court it would have had consequences not just for the City of London Police, but for red light cases everywhere.
"Overwhelming the prosecution with huge volumes of paper cannot be allowed to succeed, however eminent you may be."

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