Anyone used Freeman?

[Daveperc]

Hi guys

I have a wee problem at present with a police camera, my car, and 90mph on a dual carriageway. All goes to court in about 3 weeks.

I have Freeman on the case - just interested if any of you have used them, and how they did. Oh, and how much they charged for the privilege?

All help gratefully received!

Dave

[derdle]

Never used him, but subscribe to the "Keep On Driving" facility he provides. If anyone can sort it out, he will!

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Paul

[Rupert]

Were you stopped by the police at the time?

[Daveperc]

Nope

[derdle]

So I guess you have the classic case: Showing that the laser gun slipped and showed an incorrect reading, that walls have been shown to do 8mph. Quite well trodden ground now - you just need to be able to cast doubt in the ability of the old bill to operate the device correctly. I'm sure Freeman (or his subcontractor) will go through all this.

Do you have a clean licence up until now?

Paul

[TopBear]

From what I've read, he's the man to 'get you away with this', albeit his services wont be cheap.

Good luck!

[Daveperc]

Well, he wove his magic and I walk away relieved! Just waiting for the cost forms from the court to see what I can claim back and then I'll know what the real damage i.

Dave

[MarkM]

Yes, dont bother, keep ypur money in your pocket and take what you are given. Spent £5½k on him and he did f*** all for me, got me 6 months ban, £1k fine + £450 costs

[derdle]

So Daveperc - your case was thrown out then? Whereas MarkM you were found guilty?
It will be interesting to compare the details of the charges etc of Daveperc and MarkM.

Paul

[philipwalker]

Yes, dont bother, keep ypur money in your pocket and take what you are given. Spent £5½k on him and he did f*** all for me, got me 6 months ban, £1k fine + £450 costs

Sound`s like wise words.

[Daveperc]

Yep - mine was thrown out on a technicality (probably best not to discuss detail in public - we don't want to wise up the boys in blue now do we!.

From talking to the guy who actually represented me in court (I wasn't there incidentally) who has done half a dozen or so cases for FReeman he simply works by challenging every single aspect of the process and evidence, and more often than not the police/CPS haven't done absolutely everything by the book.

It certainly isn't cheap though - would have cost me £3.5K plus the fine and costs if we hadn't succeeded so I think you really need to be clear you want his "help".

Still, within a week I'll be back down to 3 points and will be able to breathe just a little easier each time I spot one of our fine law enforcement oficers (or their cameras) out enjoying the winter sunshine.

Dave

[derdle]

I suppose it's a question of balancing the costs of defending yourself against the potential outcome of not being professionally defended. And this will depend on the speed you were doing and how many points you already have on your licence - if you already have 6 and face another 6 then perhaps £3500 is worth it.

So Dave - what speed were you doing (and in what limit) and therefore what penalty were you facing?

It's a sad indictment of our system when you have to spend such sums of money to defend yourself against an unfair system. It really does come down to "policing by consent" - where we are almost willing to "roll over" and accept the penalties dished out knowing that the cost of getting proper justice is (in many cases) out of reach.

Paul

[Daveperc]

I was charged with doing 90 on a dual carriageway with a 70 limit - so penalty 3 pts and a fixed fine if I pleaded guilty of £60.

However, that was back in April, and with 6 pts on licence, 3 of which come off next week, if I paid up back then, and then got another (less contestable) charge subsequently I could have lost my licence. So, I let the system take it's time, hoping to delay past Nov and then I might just have taken the points as the low cost option. However, they insisted on brining it to court 3 weeks before the other points came off so I was left with a tricky decision - take the risk over 3 weeks, or pay the money and fight - I chose the latter, which in the event proved to be the right decision. Main factor in making decision was that I was satisfied that Freeman had enough grounds to fight on - which proved to be the case.

All being well I will get back the majority of the costs, in which case I'll be very happy as I'll be down to a lower risk 3 points on licence, and not too poor - the best possible outcome! However, in gambling terms this was a big roll of the dice because I could have ended up with the points, a hefty fine (the court would probably have been pissed off with me for contesting) and of course Freeman's large bill. The low risk, low gain strategy would have been to have pleaded guilty in court having played for time till the last minute.

Like many things in life, it comes down to the risk taking profile you want to adopt - and a little bit of luck!

Dave

PS - two other vaguely related fact - the camera location didn't (and still doesn't) pick up on my Road Angel - so beware! And I now sport a rather natty laser parking aid, essential to safe parking in my very tight garage........

[derdle]

Mmmm - a tricky call that one Dave, I can see the need to contest it. Glad that you'll get most of the costs back too.

A bit disappointed that the camera location is still not on the Road Angel database - considering they've had over 6 months to update it. And I think the garage parking aids are an essential piece of kit - we should all ahve one as we don't want to ding these cars in any way!!!

Paul

[SJS]

And I now sport a rather natty laser parking aid, essential to safe parking in my very tight garage........

May i enquire as to what / where you bought this handy gadget? I too have difficulties parking and require the aid of a 904nM laser device

I used to have an LT400 but it has gone belly up.