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Friday, November 23, 2007
Britain’s disgraced senior traffic cop, Meredydd Hughes, has been criticised for wasting court time and taxpayer’s money after he failed to answer speeding charges at Wrexham magistrates on Wednesday (20 November).
Hughes was granted an adjournment after claiming that he had not found a solicitor to defend him, despite the UK’s top motoring lawyer Nick Freeman – the brief dubbed ‘Mr. Loophole’ by police – having made an offer to represent him for free.
Hughes had previously announced a crackdown to prevent lawyers like Freeman exploiting so-called loopholes in the system and erroneous police paperwork to get clients off traffic offences.
Chief Constable Hughes stands accused of driving at 90mph in a 60mph zone on the A5 in North Wales, where he was caught by a speed trap. Since the speeding charges were made public, The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has announced that Hughes will be standing down from his senior traffic role to become lead officer for the 2012 London Olympics. ACPO insists his decision has nothing to do with the speeding summons.
After taking over as ACPO’s top road cop in 2005, Med Hughes has lobbied for an increase in the number of speed cameras, and for cameras to be made less obvious to drivers. In an interview with Autocar in 2005, Hughes also admitted to having six points on his licence; if they’re still on it, he could now face a ban when he appears again in Wrexham on December 5th.
Will Powell
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