Jailed, director who used jammer to block speed cameras as he made crude gestures
FingeR raised, a brazen motorist signals his disdain for the speeding laws.
Timothy Hill, 67, gestured from behind the wheel of his Range Rover at speed cameras three times, thinking he was immune from detection.
The former company director had fitted a laser jammer device to his vehicle to stop his speed being recorded by roadside police traps.
He was filmed giving the finger to camera on three occasions in a month on the same main road in north Yorkshire.
Prosecutors could not charge him with speeding because the laser jammer ensured no speed was recorded.
But the married father-of-two was yesterday jailed for eight months at Teesside Crown Court after he admitted perverting the course of justice.
Judge Simon Hickey said what Hill, of grassington, north Yorkshire had done ‘strikes at the heart’ of the justice system and he also imposed a one-year driving ban. The judge said he had a duty to pass a deterrent sentence to
‘Repeatedly gesturing’
stop other motorists trying the same ruse.
Police said Hill was caught on camera on the a19 near easingwold, Thirsk and Crathorne three times in December.
on each occasion he raised his finger and police said they detected a laser jammer in the white Range Rover.
Detectives traced Hill via his vehicle registration plate. When he found out the police were on to him he initially lied about where his vehicle was and threw the jammer device in the river behind his Yorkshire Dales home.
But after officers visited his home and interviewed him about the incidents, he admitted he was the driver and he had fitted the device to his car.
after the case Traffic Constable andrew Forth of north Yorkshire Police said: ‘if you want to attract our attention, repeatedly gesturing at police camera vans with your middle finger while you’re driving a distinctive car fitted with a laser jammer is an excellent way to do it.
‘it’s also an excellent way to end up in prison. as Hill’s case shows, perverting the course of justice is a very serious charge which carries a custodial sentence.
‘it’s our job to keep road users safe across all 6,000 miles of north Yorkshire’s roads.
Constable Forth said speed cameras were ‘an important tool to do that – and they are proven to reduce collisions and they help save lives. Drivers who fit laser jammers may mistakenly feel smug about “getting one over” on the police.
‘But we can tell if motorists are using these devices, and we will always endeavour to bring them to justice.’ Hill is a former company director of two plant hire firms.
The scanner he used can be sold and fitted legally because they also have a parking sensor mode. But using the gadget to block police speed traps is an offence. Such jamming devices intercept the beam coming from the speed gun and send a beam back on the same frequency.
as a result the speed gun shows an error message rather than recording the vehicle’s speed. The jammer often transmits from under a vehicle’s front number plate. it interferes with the police speed gun for several seconds and an alarm informs the motorist of the trap’s presence so that he can hit the brakes.