Man fined £40 after 'loudly accelerating his car in heavy traffic' in Yorkshire
A man who was taken to court for anti-social driving in Yorkshire has been given a fine of just £40 – a fraction of the fine he was originally ordered to pay.
And magistrates awarded Bradford Council just £300 of the £1,099 costs the taxpayer had to pay to bring the case to court.
On Friday (Jun 26) Shayaam Mahmood was listed to appear in court charged with breaching a public space protection order – a legal order that can see motorists in Bradford fined for anti-social driving.
Mahmood, 27, of Batcliffe Mount, Headingley, did not appear, but had contacted the court to say he was pleading guilty to the offence, allowing them to sentence him in his absence.
The fine was issued last summer, and related to Mahmood loudly accelerating his car while in heavy traffic on Birksland Street. He failed to pay the £100 fine, leading to Bradford Council’s legal team deciding to bring the case to court.
Magistrates heard that police were on a regular patrol in the Leeds Road area on the evening of Saturday, August 9.
They were approaching the Birksland Street junction, which the court was told was “very congested,” at 10.15pm.
Enis Rice, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said: “Vehicles were trying to navigate through a narrow road. One of the vehicles slowed down compared to the other vehicles in front of it, creating a gap.
"The vehicle, a Mercedes C63, then accelerated quickly causing unnecessary noise, and sped up to the queuing traffic ahead of it.”
Police spoke to the driver, who was identified as Mahmood, due to his anti-social driving.
He was issued with a £100 penalty notice for breaching the public space protection order.
The penalty remained unpaid as the months passed, and the Council decided to bring the case to court.
Mr Rice said the case had cost Bradford Council £1,099 to investigate and prepare for court. The Council urged Magistrates to impose those costs on Mahmood as part of his sentence.
Mr Rice said: “I know it sounds a lot of money, but it takes a lot of money to get these cases to court.”
After some deliberation, in which they heard of Mahmood’s financial situation, magistrates decided to fine him just £40.
He will have to pay just £300 towards the council’s costs – leaving the remaining £799 to be picked up by the taxpayer.
Mahmood was also ordered to pay a £16 court surcharge. It was a similar outcome to a previous case.
Just before the court heard Mahmood’s case, they had fined a motorist £40 for breaching a public space protection order by shouting at a traffic warden, threatening to stab her.
That case had also cost Bradford Council nearly £1,100 to prosecute, only to be awarded a contribution of just £300 towards costs.
It meant that prosecuting the two cases together cost the taxpayer around £1,600.