Man fined £900 for speeding at 36mph

A SPEEDING offence turned into a very expensive exercise for a man caught speeding by North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety camera.

James Ritchie, 58, ended up paying £900 in fines and costs after being caught driving his Mercedes S-class at 36mph in a 30mph zone in Filey Road, Flixton.

Ritchie, from Paisley, Scotland, was offered a Speed Awareness Course which would have cost £93, with his licence remaining endorsement free. Instead, he denied he was speeding and chose to dispute the offence at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court.

Ritchie was convicted of the offence after North Yorkshire Police’s safety camera operator was called to give evidence.

This is the first time a North Yorkshire Police safety camera operator has been called to give evidence in court to support an allegation of speeding captured by the safety camera.

Inspector Dave Brown, of the Strategic Roads Policing Group, said: “This case turned out to be a very expensive argument for Mr Ritchie.

“Despite the evidence and an offer of a speed awareness course, he chose to go through court proceedings in an attempt to avoid the conviction.”

Ritchie was fined £200, ordered to pay costs of £685 and victim surcharge of £15 totalling £900.

The safety camera van deploys regularly to Filey Road in Flixton and in the first six months of operation, the safety camera captured 1,164 speeding offences at this location.