A man and the company he is a director of were both convicted yesterday (7 Feb) of failing to give information relating to the identity of a driver after a Porsche was caught driving in excess of 100mph on a 60mph road.
On 7 June 2018, a white Porsche was caught by a mobile speed camera overtaking a line of traffic on the single carriageway A685 at more than 100mph, reaching 107mph.
The car was registered to Patrick Roche, 52, with a private license plate bearing a striking resemblance to Roche’s name but Roche and his company – The Durham Company Ltd T/A Max Recycle – told police they could not identify who from the company had been driving the car that day.
However, as Roche was the Operations Director of the company, he was responsible for all vehicles operated by the company.
At Carlisle Magistrates’ Court, both the company and Roche were charged with failing to give information relating to the identity of a driver.
Following a trial, both the company and Roche were found guilty. Roche received six penalty points on his license.
Both Roche and the company were fined £900 each and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £90 and £450 costs each.
A police spokesman said: “I hope this court result sends out a strong message that those who are caught putting the lives of road users at risk by driving at ridiculous speeds will be held accountable for their actions.
“The efforts of Roche and his company to avoid liability made this a complex case to pursue. However, we cannot accept a company using poor book-keeping as a way to avoid being held accountable.
“I would like to thank the team of police staff for their diligent and professional work in pursuing this case. As a Constabulary we are committed to catching anyone who drives in a manner which puts other people’s lives at risk. It is only through good fortune that this particular incident did not end in a serious and potentially fatal collision.”
Roche gave his address as that of his company – The Durham Company Ltd, Hawthorn House, Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham
