• David Beckham will not face speeding prosecution, as his lawyer found a loophole
    37 replies, posted
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-45668735
Different rules for different classes
Famous person gets out of speeding ticket on technicality. Being famous is literally the only newsworthy part of this article, and that's pushing it.
God forbid a millionaire pay a $300 speeding ticket. Its also newsworthy because it doesnt make any sense District judge Barbara Barnes said a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) was sent on 2 February and should have arrived at Bentley Motors Ltd, the registered keepers of the vehicle, by 6 February. However, she was satisfied on the evidence heard it did not in fact arrive until 7 February - one day outside the statutory 14-day window Now I'm pretty shit at math, but I'm pretty sure 5 days is less than 14 days
Being famous or otherwise rich is the only way to afford a lawyer good enough to get you off on that technicality.
Happened on the 23rd, notice was received on the 7th. That's 15 days (see more than 14 days) following the event, so that seems to be what they're talking about. This isn't different rules for the wealthy or some obscure technicality, seems like it's just a failure to follow basic prodecure. I do think it's stupid procedure though, I don't know why they wouldn't have a sort of mailbox rule (as in contracts) for this type of thing like in.
Incident happened on the 23rd of January, the limit is 14 days from incident not from sending out the NIP
So he hired a world class lawyer to get out of a traffic infraction? Why exactly?
There are literally adverts on commercial radio stations for lawyers who will 'exploit every loophole they can' to get you out of a speeding prosecution. I was surprised it was okay for them to be so blunt about it
it's what a lawyer's job is to do. Tax lawyers do it all the time
In 1999 Mr Freeman successfully defended former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who had been accused of driving down the hard shoulder of a motorway. His defence? Sir Alex was simply looking for a toilet because he had an upset stomach. These upper clarseholes are such dicks.
Most dumb comment seeing as anyone who is aware of this law may get out of a fine if challenged in court. The only thing that class makes difference in is the fact he hired a lawyer.
A lawyer I daresay the average Joe can't afford. Beckham is only in a different class because of money - take that away and he wouldn't have 'Mr Loophole' making his case.
££££££££££££££££££££££
A lawyer with the knowledge and skill to do this, therefore costs more than any regular person can afford. You're fooling nobody
Yeah maybe if you get a world class lawyer or have lots of fucking spare time to dedicate to learning the law.
Is being rich a class? I thought a class system had legally protected statuses for certain people, like if he were royalty. It's not like different laws apply to him because he's rich
Well, I'd disagree. Fines for example can be crippling for poor/middle class people, where as for the rich it basically doesn't matter.
he doesn't even get penalised a little bit? thats incredible.
This is perhaps the most simple procedural issue that anyone could point to if they looked into the subject a tiny bit (which you'd do even if going pro se). If there had been some crazy gymnastics involved and some weird and obscure statutes or case law pointed to, then these complaints would all be fair. It's like if you got a parking ticket in a place that says "No parking 9am to 5pm" but you parked there at 6pm and the ticket was issued at 7pm. You'd be stupid not to contest it on the grounds that its out of bounds. Everyone is getting so hung up on who the subject is and forgetting that this is just some simple cut and dry case where the state fucked up their own case procedurally.
I think it's more to do with the conviction than the fine, having a driving offence can stop you working/living in other countries until it's spent/pardoned.
Well yeah but that's the same for everything. Rent, bills, child support, medical costs (if you're American)
No, punishment is meant to cause a certain level of damage. A rich person is simply in affected by fines that absolutely fuck over a regular person. Fines as punishment is just another way of saying it's okay if you're rich
Well would you rather he go to jail for a speeding ticket? It's unfair to give a higher fine to someone based on their net worth when they've committed to same crime as a poor person
Actually, I'd argue it's much more fair to have fines that scale to income
Should young people receive longer jail sentences than old people?
... Jail serves a much different purpose than fines. Fines have much greater impact on poor people, quite often interfering with their ability to buy food/ necessities
Fines are meant to cause financial damage as punishment. A 200 dollar fine means something a lot different to someone that makes $1000 a month vs $10000 a month. One is an incovenience, the other can be the difference whether or not your family eats ramen that month.
The fact that you can get out of a speeding ticket here in the UK if the receipt of the penalty notice is over 14 days after the alleged infraction is fairly common knowledge. I wouldn't say this is an "upper class" thing, anyone can claim this, no need for a fancy solicitor.
Hope all the cost for paying the lawyer was worth saving 300$
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