MR. CATHCART WASONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that a police motor-driving prosecution broke down, the magistrate holding that the car was not travelling at the rate suggested by the police; if it is to be held as law that, unless the police prove the exact rate that a car capable of travelling at 100 miles an hour was proceeding, the prosecution will fail; and if, in the public interest, he will cause an appeal to be lodged against the decision of the magistrate.
§ MR. GLADSTONEIn the case referred to the charge was one, not of excessive speed, but of dangerous driving. 405 The magistrate was not satisfied that the evidence was sufficient and dismissed the charge. As the charge was dismissed on the facts, no appeal is possible. It is not in any case necessary for the police to prove the exact speed at which a car is travelling. If the charge is one of excessive speed, it is enough if the prosecution proves to the satisfaction of the Court that the speed was more than twenty miles. In a charge of dangerous driving, it is not necessary to prove any rate of speed, though the actual speed may be a matter of importance in deciding whether the driving was dangerous.
§ MR. T. L. CORBETTThe prosecution did not break down in the case against the hon. Member who put this Question.