Sunday, July 17, 2011

Ordered to break the law

There’s a strange case reported here, where a driver suspected of drink-driving was told by the police to drive to the police station as they didn’t have the necessary roadside breath-testing equipment. He was eventually convicted, but surely a decent defence lawyer could have secured an acquittal by arguing that the police had in effect instructed him to commit the offence in the first place. And, in such a situation, he would have been fully entitled to stand his ground and demand that the police either give him a lift to the station, or wait until they had managed to find the necessary equipment.

As always with such reports, though, it may be that there is more to it than meets the eye.