Police Officer back on the road after successful appeal

Wednesday 28 March 2018

A Police Officer who was disqualified from driving after running a red light, crashing into a car, while on duty, has been allowed back on the road following a successful appeal in the Royal Court.

30-year-old Adrian Hobson was handed the three-month ban following the incident at David Place back in October 2016. He was also given a £2,200 fine in January, which was yesterday reduced to £700.

The incident took place on 21 October 2016 around 01:30. Mr Hobson was responding to a call from a colleague who was in “personal danger” when he crossed a red light at David Place in his BMW and crashed into a Mini Cooper coming from Stopford Road.

He was later charged with dangerous driving, but pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of careless driving, which the prosecution accepted. He was then sentenced in Magistrate's Court in January and received a three-month driving ban as well as a £2,200 fine. 

Earlier this month, his advocate, Alison Brown, appealed the sentence in Royal Court. She said that the crash had only been a "small part" of a long drive on the night of the accident, adding that "the totality of the drive was relevant to how far he fell below standards."

Pictured: Mr Hobson appealed the sentence in the Royal Court.

She said Mr Hobson drove safely, passing several junctions in an appropriate manner, concluding that the incident could be characterised as a single failure, as it resulted from "a split second decision not to brake." "He knew what he was doing, he drove seriously, he made a mistake, an error of judgment, as he approached this junction," she said. 

She denied Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris' interpretation of the scene - that Mr Hobson must have been speeding between two junctions - saying that his speed was not excessive and that the "real error was not to slow down." 

Advocate Brown also argued that Mr Hobson's accident was less serious than the one between PC Emma Quemard and PC John Gibson. The pair crashed into each other in July 2016 while separately responding to an emergency ‘Code 1’ alert. Advocate Brown said that while their accident more serious they had received a lesser sentence than Mr Hobson as they PC Quemard was fined £2,000 and disqualified from driving for only one month while PC Gibson faced a financial penalty of £1,000. 

The appeal was heard by Royal Court Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith and Jurats Jane Ronge and Collette Crill who released their judgment yesterday. They decided to grant the appeal and reduced the fine to £700 while quashing the disqualification order. Reasons for their decision will be published at a later date.