Post by Focus on Feb 13, 2013 11:44:20 GMT
A barrister has been ordered to pay £5,000 in legal costs for 'wasting time' after he refused to pay a £60 fine for jumping a red light.
Kuldip Singh QC was caught racing through a central London junction at 65mph in his 3.2litre C-Class Mercedes Benz a full 1.4 seconds after the light had turned red in November 2011.
Time waster : Kuldip Singh QC leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court after pleaded guilty to jumping a red light
But instead of owning up and paying the fine he tried to have the charge thrown out and fought a year-long battle in the courts which cost a total of £4,769.
Within 14 months the case was listed seven times and there were four court hearings.
The 58-year-old claimed he was never given the option of paying an on-the-spot fine and that his speed should not have been taken into consideration when prosecuting him.
At one stage he even claimed the device used to catch him was not Home Office approved and complained he did not have the right to a fair trial citing Article 6 of the Human Rights Act.
But today he finally pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a traffic signal after a judge ruled there was no abuse of process by the prosecution and ‘a fair trial could undoubtedly take place.’
District Judge Quentin Purdy told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that a 'substantial amount' of court time and resources had been wasted.
Five files of documents were handed over as part of Singh's defence in what should have been a ‘seemingly straightforward prosecution,' the court heard.
Guilty : Kuldip Singh QC spent a year fighting the case against paying the £60 fine for jumping a red light
Judge Purdy said: 'For reasons I well understand, but I fear Mr Singh does not, the lengthy and extensive paperwork overwhelmed the City of London traffic prosecution team and indeed the Crown Prosecution Service, which is simply under-resourced to deal with such paperwork.'
Prosecutor Andrew Perry said he had added up the cost of proceedings which came to £4,769.
He added: 'Mr Singh has wasted the court’s time from the moment this case started.'
Singh was told if he pleaded guilty today he would be sentenced only on the issue of crossing the red light.
The judge sentenced him to three points on his licence, a £60 fine plus a £15 victim surcharge.
He added: 'I am also ordering you to pay the full costs of the proceedings as this prosecution has been a fallacy from the start and the cost to the public purse should be reimbursed.'
Singh, who qualified as a barrister in 1975 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1993, asked for seven days to pay it.
The QC, whose address was given in court as his chambers, Serle Court, at New Square, Camden, north London, declined to comment as he left court -- Well well ... a judge with balls!! - Fx 
