Hooting at police bike lands man in court

Thursday 16 August 2018

A motorist who is accused of illegally sounding his car horn saw his case go all the way to the Magistrate’s Court, rather than having it dealt with at parish hall level, because he says he has "a point to prove."

68-year-old James McFarlane admits being in his parked car on St Clement’s Road on June 15 and ‘tooting’ at a police motorbike, but claims he was doing it to alert the officer to a potential danger. Mr McFarlane told the Court he was worried about pedestrians who were crossing outside the White Horse Pub.

It seems that under the law, a horn should only be used when warning someone about a possible danger.

Hearing the case, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris told Mr McFarlane it was his right to go to court if he wanted to, but that the matter could have been dealt with at parish hall level and would probably have resulted in a written caution. Instead, he told Mr McFarlane, by escalating it to the Magistrate’s Court he faces being fined and possibly having to pay costs.

Mr McFarlane told the Court he realised this but had "a point to prove." He claims he has a witness who was in his car, and that pedestrians will also back up what he’s saying.

He’s also demanded to see the unedited body-cam footage shot by the officer on the police motorbike.

The case has been adjourned for six weeks.