Detective Constable jailed for PtCoJ over speeding ticket

Detective Constable jailed for PtCoJ over speeding ticket

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Mill Wheel

Original Poster:

6,149 posts

195 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
It seems nobody is immune from the temptation to lie to avoid a speeding fine.

He went to some lengths with an elaborate deception that unravelled when CCTV from his place of work revealed that he had swapped the plates on his vehicle in order to support his claims.
However, it seems he went even further and tried to excuse his changed plates, claiming the originals were broken.
Surely he should have known when to stop?

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/cheat...

Wales Online said:
A cheating police officer has been jailed for three months for trying to dodge a £60 speeding ticket by swapping his car number plates.

South Wales Police Sergeant Anthony Rees-Thompson, 40, now faces being sacked and losing more than £100,000 in pension rights – all over the £60 lie.

A court heard the undercover detective fitted the new registration plates to avoid a fine and three points on his license.

Rees-Thompson then wrote to the speed camera unit saying there had been a technical error or another similar car was using the same registration number.

The father-of-four sent in photographs of his silver Vauxhall Corsa with new plates, bought for £21 online.

Speed camera officials compared the photographs and noticed the plates had the same digits but the new ones had been customised with a blue GB sign and the Welsh flag.

But the court heard Rees-Thompson forgot that his car was being filmed every day as he drove it into police headquarters in Bridgend – and his force’s own HQ CCTV was used to catch him.

Prosecutor Meirion Davies said: “He chose to cheat the legal process with a deliberate deception.

“He fitted different plates and took photographs to deliberately mislead those who were investigating the speeding offence.”

Rees-Thompson, of Abercrave, in the Swansea Valley, had denied perverting the course of justice claiming he changed the plates because they were damaged.
Shame about his pension.

XCP

16,876 posts

227 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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Disgraceful!

carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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There are some thick police officers out there.

The sentence isn't enough.

Red 4

10,744 posts

186 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
What a bellend.

That is all.

Mill Wheel

Original Poster:

6,149 posts

195 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
carinaman said:
There are some thick police officers out there.

The sentence isn't enough.
I have followed this case for a while - I wondered about the £60 fine reported in the media - how long has speeding been £100?

His sentence is similar to the time Huhne served, so how does his deception compare to that?
However, you could argue that he was in a position of trust, and his actions tarnish the reputation of the police as a whole by association?

carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Mill Wheel said:
I have followed this case for a while - I wondered about the £60 fine reported in the media - how long has speeding been £100?

His sentence is similar to the time Huhne served, so how does his deception compare to that?

However, you could argue that he was in a position of trust, and his actions tarnish the reputation of the police as a whole by association?
Given he was a serving officer that knew the rules and decided he was above them and actively went out of his way to deceive his sentence should have been double what normal MoP would have got for it. I did start to search for comparable cases, can think of five from the top of my head, to see what those MoPs got in terms of sentence.

Thread title states 'Detective Constable jailed for PtCoJ over speeding ticket'. The article then states that he was a Detective Sergeant.

So that's a Defective Constable and a defective thread title then? I'll just reach for my PNB and lick the tip of my pencil. wink


If the police and the Police Federation are serious about getting their act together shouldn't the Pol Fed challenge that sentence for being too low?


Red 4

10,744 posts

186 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
carinaman said:
If the police and the Police Federation are serious about getting their act together shouldn't the Pol Fed challenge that sentence for being too low?
In a word - no.

Sentencing has absolutely nothing to do with the police federation. It is the job of the courts.

This bloke has more to worry about than his sentence. He is history (he will lose his job and his livelihood) - all for the sake of a speeding offence.

Mill Wheel

Original Poster:

6,149 posts

195 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
carinaman said:
Thread title states 'Detective Constable jailed for PtCoJ over speeding ticket'. The article then states that he was a Detective Sergeant.

So that's a Defective Constable and a defective thread title then? I'll just reach for my PNB and lick the tip of my pencil. wink
...and further into the article it states:
Wales Online said:
Speaking after the case, Tim Jones, Head of Professional Standards at South Wales Police, said: “We note the sentencing of Detective Constable Anthony Rees-Thompson and the decision of the court today.
Several other sources quote his DC credentials, and I'm also concerned at the £60 fine quoted! smile
Mind you don't get lead poisoning from licking your pencil... not from the "lead" but the Chinese paint it is coloured with! hehe

Derek Smith

45,514 posts

247 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Mill Wheel said:
I have followed this case for a while - I wondered about the £60 fine reported in the media - how long has speeding been £100?

His sentence is similar to the time Huhne served, so how does his deception compare to that?
However, you could argue that he was in a position of trust, and his actions tarnish the reputation of the police as a whole by association?
This punishment is similar to that of the Huhne case. That one, however, was a conspiracy which (used to) had a higher tarrif. This one was not a conspiracy.

So it would seem that the offender's position of trust might well have been taken into consideration. We don't know, of course, but the similar penalty would suggest that something was.


carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Red 4 said:
In a word - no.

Sentencing has absolutely nothing to do with the police federation. It is the job of the courts.

This bloke has more to worry about than his sentence. He is history (he will lose his job) - all for the sake of a speeding offence.
I was coming at it from the angle of giving the good apples a bad name. They could challenge it from the angle of 'We don't like dodgy Coppers giving the decent ones a bad name.'

If his kids are school age do you think they'll get picked on for having a bent copper father? I've heard of that being done to the children of the local drug baron.

I hope you're well Red 4. That applies to Derek Smith too.

carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Mill Wheel said:
carinaman said:
Thread title states 'Detective Constable jailed for PtCoJ over speeding ticket'. The article then states that he was a Detective Sergeant.

So that's a Defective Constable and a defective thread title then? I'll just reach for my PNB and lick the tip of my pencil. wink
...and further into the article it states:
Wales Online said:
Speaking after the case, Tim Jones, Head of Professional Standards at South Wales Police, said: “We note the sentencing of Detective Constable Anthony Rees-Thompson and the decision of the court today.
Several other sources quote his DC credentials, and I'm also concerned at the £60 fine quoted! smile
Mind you don't get lead poisoning from licking your pencil... not from the "lead" but the Chinese paint it is coloured with! hehe
He'll be a Detective Inspector by the time the Daily Mail recycles it. wink

Quinny

15,814 posts

265 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Whenever I read about cases like this, I can only but wonder how many other times the officer in question played with the rules in an attempt to get what he wantedscratchchin

Derek Smith

45,514 posts

247 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Red 4 said:
carinaman said:
If the police and the Police Federation are serious about getting their act together shouldn't the Pol Fed challenge that sentence for being too low?
In a word - no.

Sentencing has absolutely nothing to do with the police federation. It is the job of the courts.

This bloke has more to worry about than his sentence. He is history (he will lose his job and his livelihood) - all for the sake of a speeding offence.
Beat me to it.

The suggestion, apart from being rather silly, is wrong. The police fed should not have anything to say regarding sentences. Indeed, I am under the impression that such a act, together or not, is proscribed by law. Don't forget that the fed is not a union. In fact it is part of police management, in the same way that a traffic unit is.

On top of that, we have no idea what the court considered in aggravating factors and mitigation in coming to the decision. These are nothing to do with the federation.


Red 4

10,744 posts

186 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
carinaman said:
I was coming at it from the angle of giving the good apples a bad name. They could challenge it from the angle of 'We don't like dodgy Coppers giving the decent ones a bad name.'

If his kids are school age do you think they'll get picked on for having a bent copper father? I've heard of that being done to the children of the local drug baron.

I hope you're well Red 4. That applies to Derek Smith too.
Yes, I know where you were coming from.

I think the polfed should stick to their remit though - which is assisting in the efficient running of the service and assisting the federated ranks.

Thanks for well wishes. I've been better if I'm honest.

Eclassy

1,201 posts

121 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Quinny said:
Whenever I read about cases like this, I can only but wonder how many other times the officer in question played with the rules in an attempt to get what he wantedscratchchin
This.

If a DC is willing to risk all for the sake of a £100 fine and 3 points, Lord knows how many times he has stitched up innocent members of the public.

I have to commend the officers who stuck to the task and left no stone unturned in ensuring this corrupt one was prosecuted.

Quinny

15,814 posts

265 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Eclassy said:
I have to commend the officers who stuck to the task and left no stone unturned in ensuring this corrupt one was prosecuted.
Yep..... Never underestimate the lengths the scamera partnership will go to to get their manbiggrin

carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Quinny said:
Yep..... Never underestimate the lengths the scamera partnership will go to to get their manbiggrin
I think they've gone rogue. They seem to catch more wrong 'uns than the normal police, including Professional Standards.

Bigends

5,412 posts

127 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
As soon as hed let the camera people know it wasnt him and it was another car on cloned plates, PNC should have shown activity for more than one car with those plates - for example it would show ANPR hits at different locations on the same day and at the same time for example together maybe with other speed camera hits. Once it was clear there was only one car displaying that number - the rest was fairly simple, especially once they found out he was Plod and had CCTV footage .

Mk3Spitfire

2,921 posts

127 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Eclassy said:
This.

I have to commend the officers who stuck to the task and left no stone unturned in ensuring this corrupt one was prosecuted.
Kind of blows all your previous allegations out the water though, eh?

carinaman

21,224 posts

171 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Mk3Spitfire said:
Kind of blows all your previous allegations out the water though, eh?
Not so fast. wink

You know how slowly the wheels of justice grind. And you also know that some offences have a three year time limit.