75 year old, ex-leader of the conservative party, Lord Howard has been convicted of failing to furnish driver details when requested.
The case revolved around a speeding offence when Lord Howard’s car was recorded as travelling at 37.3mph in a 30mph zone.
Both Lord Howard and his wife Sandra claimed either of them could have been driving the car at the time of the incident but could not remember who it was.
However, the couple admitted that it must have been one of them driving as they travelled from their home in Kent to their Westminster address.
In prosecuting the case, the court heard from Andrew Perry, who stated: “Shrugging your shoulders and saying: ‘I can’t remember’ is not enough.
“He said: ‘It could be me, it could be my wife. We make that journey regularly and we can’t remember who was driving.”
Lord Howard told the court: “When I’m with my wife, which is regularly, we have no regular routine,” the QC said from the witness box.
“We were driving back from Kent, a journey we make very regularly and who drives depends on circumstances of whether one of us is tired, has work to do or is reading.
“We have a home in Kent where we go for weekends in my former constituency.”
When asked again if he recalled who was driving Lord Howard said: “I very much wish that I did, unfortunately I don’t.”
The situation was exacerbated as when the notice of intended prosecution (NIP) arrived at his address, Lord Howard and his wife were holidaying in Grenada.
When commenting on the reasons why he did not give the information, Lord Howard stated: “I tried as hard as I could to remember who was driving. It was almost a month before. I simply couldn’t remember.
“Neither of us has any desire to escape the consequences of our actions. I couldn’t truthfully complete the form.”
When called to give evidence, Lady Howard told the court: “We were not trying to hide anything. We simply couldn’t remember.”
In considering the case, District Judge Barnes did not criticise Lord or Lady Howard’s evidence and described them as “credible”.
She added: “The defendant did speak to his wife to try and remember who was driving. They did rack their brains.”
However, Lord Howard should have initially given full details of who the other driver could have been, including name, age and address, rather than simply saying his ‘wife’.
“At no stage did the defendant provide the particulars of his wife in his letter. To simply refer to his ‘wife’ does not provide sufficient information.
“The reasonable diligence has not been made out and I’m not in a position to give any credit since there was no plea of guilty.”
In sentencing, Lord Howard received 6 penalty points on his driving licence and a fine of £900. He was also ordered to pay £625 in costs and a £90 victim surcharge.
Afterwards, Lord Howard said: “I intend to appeal.”
About Carl Millar
Carl Millar is a highly respected and experienced drink driving solicitor who is the principal of Millars Solicitors.
Carl has been a specialist in road traffic law for many years and represents clients from all walks of life and all over the Country. He is well known for the dogged defending of his clients and robust cross examination of police officers and exert witnesses.
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