Laser jam, court list, Lidl, OAT, outing offer
Motorist’s laser jam.
A speeding motorist used a laser-jammer to defeat a mobile speed gun – but was spared prison because of his “exceptional” reputation as a cleanliving and charitable man. Scarborough businessman Ben Kitto, 41, was travelling at 91mph on the A64 in his BMW 6 Series when the crafty piece of kit, fitted to the front of his car, blocked the laser on the police gun operated by a traffic officer at the roadside near Malton.
The laser jammed for a crucial half-a-dozen seconds, giving Kitto the chance to slow down to a sedate 53mph.
The businessman, who is a national sales manager for a telecommunications firm, slipped past the camera apparently having got away with the audacious ruse, York Crown Court heard.
But CCTV was also in operation that day and picked up Kitto’s true speed, said prosecutor Stephanie Hancock.
Officers traced Kitto, a member of Round Table the businessmen’s charitable network, as the registered owner of the vehicle and came calling at his home within days.
They found the laser-jammer – which was a small, rectangular box just under the front registration plate, as well as a GPS device on the dashboard which, although legal, worked in tandem with the jammer to alert Kitto to the presence of the speed camera.
Kitto, a self-confessed gadget-lover, was arrested and charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by using a laser-jamming device to disable a mobile speed camera on the afternoon of June 30 last year.
He appeared in court on Monday when he pleaded guilty to the charge plus a separate count of speeding.
Ms Hancock said Kitto, a married father-of-two who drives 40,000 miles a year in his well-paid job as a top salesman, was travelling along the westbound downhill carriageway of the A64 at Whitwell-on-theHill, where police often choose to catch drivers.
She said the traffic offic- er’s speed gun “fed back with a number of error messages” after being trapped by jamming device.
“The defendant breaks and slows down during this time and the (camera) recorded a speed of 53mph,” she added.
A police investigation using CCTV footage detected the small black box at the front of Kitto’s car and officers visited his home about a week later, when they seized the tiny device for analysis, along with a memory card which showed the businessman had been speeding for a good distance before being caught by the police trap.
Ms Hancock said four or five other such cases were currently being investigated by North Yorkshire Police, but use of such devices was so rare that sentencing guidelines were practically non-existent.
She added that Kitto, of Stepney Road, Scarborough, had never disclosed how much he had paid for the device.
Kitto’s barrister Philip Morris said his client “was simply not aware of what sort of predicament he was in”.
“He is held in high regard in his home town (for the) payback he gives to the local community and his involvement in charity organisations,” added Mr Morris.
“He drives all over the country and spends long periods away from his young family.
“He is a good, ostensibly honest and lawful person who has acquired a device which in itself is not illegal, but which, when used in this way, clearly is.” Scarborough fire crews were called on Sunday night after someone reported a mysterious liquid being dumped in an alley.
The crew rushed to Elmville Avenue at 10.18pm not knowing what to expect. It turned out the liquid was wallpaper paste and pads were used to absorb it. Traffic signals at the junction of Filey Road and Prince of Wales Terrace in Scarborough are to be upgraded by North Yorkshire County Council. The signals have become costly to maintain, so work is due to start on Monday, to install modern, energy-efficient equipment that should last for at least 15 years.