header-logo header-logo

ROAD TRAFFIC

20 September 2007
Issue: 7289 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
printer mail-detail

R v Currie [2007] EWCA Crim 926, [2007] All ER (D) 233 (Apr)

The defendant’s car was stopped by the police. He then drove off in a manner that the police regarded as dangerous driving. No notice of intended prosecution was served on him before he was charged with dangerous driving.

The prosecution contended that the requirement of notice in the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (RTOA 1988), s 1(1)  did not apply by virtue of s 2(1), since there had been an “accident”. It was held that proof of an accident is not necessary to establish the offence of dangerous driving. The occurrence of an accident is relevant only to the procedural requirement of giving the defendant notice.

It is a question of law whether or not particular facts did or did not amount to an accident and so this issue is for the decision of the judge (not the jury) where the case is being tried in the crown court. 

The burden of proof, to the criminal standard, is on the prosecution to establish that an accident occurred. The word “accident” in s 2(1) has to be given a common sense meaning and is not restricted to untoward or unintended consequences having an adverse physical effect.

In this case, there was evidence to show physical contact between a police officer and the defendant’s car, and the circumstances would have been sufficiently memorable for it to be unnecessary to draw them to the defendant’s attention by serving a notice of intended prosecution—which is the underlying reason why a notice is not required where there has been an accident—and so the judge was entitled to conclude that the prosecution were not required to serve a notice under s 1.

Issue: 7289 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll