Notice of Intended Prosecution

I believe I am the victim of Police harassment.  I ride a very distinctive but legal type of sports bike.  I make a point of the bike being as legal as it can be, because I do admit that I regularly wheelie, speed and stoppie on the highway.  Anyway, I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution from a Police Officer (who has made it his life's ambition to get me off the road) saying that he had to chase me and I didn't stop (I didn't know I was being chased) and apparently I committed some white line offences, he says that I went over solid white lines, which I have to say I probably did.  But, he didn't pull me over, because he didn’t catch me.  I thought you had to be told at the time that you were being nicked for an offence, and they can't come back and do you later.  Is this correct?

Answer

Unfortunately for you the answer is that the Police Officer only has to serve you with a Notice of Intended Prosecution for an offence of driving without due care or failing to comply with the road signs, which are the two offences you are most likely to be nicked for.  The Officer still has to lead evidence that you were the rider of the vehicle at the time, but if you are the registered keeper there is a presumption that you are the driver which you will need to disprove.  A top tip is not to have a particularly distinctive bike or particularly distinctive riding gear.  If however you ride in a way to deliberately draw attention to yourself by the public then you are likely to draw attention to yourself by the Police.  The Police are only human, and for some forces only just, so a general word of advice would be to stop being quite so flash, keep your head down and start waiting for the points to drop off your licence or for the Road Traffic Officer to get posted elsewhere.  Alternatively, and perhaps more sensibly you could moderate your riding style.

Andrew Dalton