Hundreds of driving convictions could be overturned after motorist who filmed crash on his phone is CLEARED with legal loophole
HUNDREDS of driving convictions could be overturned after a motorist who filmed a crash on his mobile phone was cleared at the High Court today thanks to a legal loophole.
Ramsey Barreto, 51, was prosecuted and found guilty after police saw him driving past an accident near his home in Ruislip, West London, in August 2017 and using his phone to take a video for more than ten seconds.
However last October a judge at Isleworth crown court overturned the conviction after deciding that laws only banned the use of mobiles to speak or communicate while at the wheel.
Mr Barreto's case went to the High Court and today two judges upheld the crown court decision, clearing him of the offence.
Motoring lawyer Emma Patterson said this meant defendants who feel they were misrepresented could have their convictions overturned.
This could include ex-England football captain David Beckham who was banned from driving in May this year because a member of the public pictured him holding a phone as he drove in slowly moving traffic.
The penalty for using a handheld device while driving is a £200 fixed penalty notice and six points.
She said: "We might be able to persuade the courts to reopen cases where people have been convicted on a misapplication of the law, especially when they were unrepresented at the time they pleaded guilty or were found guilty.
"Also anybody that pleaded guilty thinking that what they were doing did amount to an offence - the police will give people ‘legal advice’ at the roadside which people seem to accept at face value - may be able to argue that their original guilty plea was equivocal.
"Again another ground for reopening the conviction despite a guilty plea and the first instance."
LEGAL LOOPHOLE
Mr Barreto had been charged under road safety regulations dating back to 1986, which were revised in December 2003 to include mobile phone use.
They prohibit drivers from using handheld phones but Mr Barreto's lawyers claimed the restriction was aimed only at "performing an interactive communication function".
That would include all talking, texting and internet use but not using a phone as a camera.
WHAT IS THE LAW ON DRIVING WHILE USING A PHONE?
Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is illegal.
Motorists are allowed to use a phone if it is fully hands-free but are not permitted to pick it up.
The case involving Mr Barreto centred on whether using a phone to film, rather than communicate with someone, should be treated as driving without due care and attention rather than driving while using a hand-held phone.
Judges at the High Court agreed there is a loophole related to filming with a phone's camera.
As the law stands it will fall to prosecutors to prove a driver was in communication with someone before an offence has been committed.
However Louis Mably QC, for the director of public prosecutions (DPP), said the rules were designed to "guard against unsafe driving caused by drivers holding their phones and using them, thereby distracting themselves from proper concentration and control of their vehicles."
He argued: "There is no rational distinction to be drawn between a mobile telephone used by a driver to perform an interactive communication function on the one hand, and use by a driver for a different equally distracting purpose on the other."
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Dismissing the DPP's appeal today Lady Justice Thirlwall admitted the regulations were "cumbersome" but said it was "clear" only using a phone for communication is banned.
She said: "The legislation does not prohibit all use of a mobile phone held while driving.
"It prohibits driving while using a mobile phone or other device for calls and other interactive communication - and holding it at some stage during that process."
However the judge said that while filming is not banned under the mobile phone regulations, it might constitute another crime, such as careless driving or even dangerous driving.
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