A Welsh motorist has been sentenced to eight months in prison after being caught using a device which fired lasers at speed cameras to avoid being caught speeding.
Sixty-four year old Keith John from Swansea was caught after a safety camera unit on the A40 near Brecon failed to register John’s Mercedes vehicle and was unable to take an accurate speed reading, despite the cars before and after giving a correct reading.
John’s car was reported to the police for further investigation and after analysing the footage officers, spotted the two jammers mounted on the front of his S-Class Mercedes. After visiting John’s home, police found four further vehicles fitted with the laser jammers.
John was charged with perverting the course of justice and at a hearing Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court hw claimed that the lasers were used as parking sensors and that he had broken no speed limits.
But giving evidence, Steve Callaghan, a forensic engineer claimed that the lasers would not be suitable for parking, saying: “While Mr John, as others have done before him, contended that the blinder jammer can function as a parking sensor, this is a deliberate scam to attempt to confuse the police and courts.”
After seeing John jailed, Sergeant Ian Price, Go Safe Cymru co-ordinator pointed out that the sentence handed down was far greater than that had he simply been caught speeding.
He said: “Speeding in these circumstances would have ordinarily caused a driver to have their driving licence endorsed and a fine of £100, or an educational speed awareness course,” he said.
“However, when people go to extreme lengths to avoid prosecution in fitting technology to their car that allows them to exceed the speed limit without fear of prosecution, they show an insalubrious attitude towards the judicial system of this country and also display a complete disdain towards the risk of harm to others.
“The sentence handed out is a lesson to those in society who feel they can cheat the law and pose a real and substantial risk of harm on our roads.”