Thursday 13 August 2009

Is It Any Wonder...

... we get complexes about the police and other statutory bodies?
Read the following story, and then bear in mind the tale of motorcyclist David Saxby, who was convicted of speeding at 139mph and jailed for 12 months.

"A Bentley driver who was caught speeding at 138 miles per hour on the M6 motorway has received a 56-day driving ban.
Jenny Waldron, chair on the magistrates in Kendal, said the speed reached by David Boothman on February 2nd was the highest she had encountered.
The court heard how Boothman, who comes from Onchan in the Isle of Man, had just bought the Bentley Continental as a 60th birthday present for himself and had not realised how fast he had been travelling.
Mitigating, Boothman’s barrister said his client was very ashamed, adding: “In the Isle of Man we do not have speed limits on our best roads and, although this does not excuse the offence, it perhaps makes it a little more understandable how someone from the Isle of Man could find themselves in this position.”
As well as the driving ban, Boothman was ordered to pay a £500 fine, £60 costs and a victim’s surcharge of £15."

So, a short ban and a £575 fine for the owner of a car that retails at more than one hundred grand! In comparison, we believe that Saxby should have had a similar ban, but a comparitive fine so, with Saxby riding an R6 (if it was brand new, that'd be £8,500), the fine would amount to just over forty quid! That'd be fair, but when you discover that Saxby laughed at the policeman who stopped him, and suggested that he "catch some real criminals", maybe you can understand the actual reason why he got a custodial sentence...
Remember folks, if you get stopped by the boys in blue, be polite! And if you can't be polite, be a filthy rich Manxman...

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