Doc Brief

Occasionally the law expects citizens to perform some act which, for reasons of illness or disorder, individuals may not be able to accomplish. This matter came up for adjudication when the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court took up a case stated from a decision of South Yorkshire justices in Piggott v Director of Public Prosecutions( 2008) The Times,10 March, [2008] All ER (D) 114 (Feb). The defendant had been required to produce a specimen of breath under s 7(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988) which by s 7(6) makes it an offence to fail to do so without reasonable excuse. The defendant had made four attempts to produce a specimen but had failed to do so. Later, at trial, an expert in respiratory medicine had opined there had been a medical reason for this failure, namely that the defendant suffered from bronchial asthma and a hyperventilation syndrome. This opinion had been accepted by the justices. The issue was whether or not the defendant had informed the police officers involved whether she suffered a medical disability