Not Guilty Disqualified Driving Willesden Magistrates Court 2024

We recently secured the acquittal of a defendant charged with driving whilst disqualified in a trial at Willesden Magistrates Court. 

The case turned on whether the prosecution could prove whether the person identified by a member of the public getting into and driving a van was the person subsequently arrested in the van nearby.   Our client was found sitting in the driver’s seat and possession of keys to the van.  The prosecution had to prove that the Defendant was disqualified from driving and that he was driving. The disqualification was proved through official police records. The issue in this case was whether the prosecution could prove whether our client was driving.  Careful cross-examination of the witness and police officers by our solicitor threw the identification into doubt and that, combined with defects in the police investigation enabled our solicitor to obtain a not guilty verdict for our client.

This was a case where there were very suspicious circumstances but the prosecution could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that our client was driving.