I think the local busy body has reported me as the Police have come looking for me. Between me and you I admit I was pulling wheelies.

However, it was in the car park of the local recreation ground, i.e., not on the main road. The Police now want to interview me, but as I was on private land I think I’ve got a defence and am going to tell them as much. What do you think?

Answer

The local recreation ground car park is a public place so you haven’t got a defence on that basis. Moving forward, pulling a wheelie is classic ‘dangerous driving’. If convicted it’s a minimum disqualification of 12 months and you could be locked up for a maximum of 24 months (but the latter is highly unlikely from what you’ve said).

Before you do anything, get some legal advice before doing the Police interview. Ideally you want to know the strength of the evidence against you before putting your hands up. If you can’t afford one, the state must provide you a duty solicitor if you ask for one. If the CPS can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that your riding fell ‘far below what was expected of a competent and careful rider’, you will be found not guilty. So knowing the evidence is going to be key in what you decide to do next, i.e., admit and try to mitigate or go not guilty and see if the CPS can prove the case against you.

Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast

Motorcycle Monthly October 2019