On Mon, 1 Dec 2008 15:09:40 +0000, Rob Morley
wrote:

If he'd given his name and address rather than acting like a silly
bugger he'd probably have got away with an informal caution.

Acting like a silly bugger can be a help.

In my much younger days I had an interesting encounter with the police
and played a silly bugger...

My front light was faulty - it needed a bang on its side to get it
working. At about 2am I was at a set of red lights very close to my
home with a police car behind me. There was no other traffic and I
went straight over. The police car followed, it flashed and put on
its blue lights, I ignored it and turned into my service road and to
my front door. The police parked up and confronted me.

They challenged my lack of a front light, and I showed them that it
worked. They challenged that I went through the red lights, I claimed
they were green. The challenged that I did not stop, I claimed I did
not know they wanted me to stop as I couldn't see behind me. There
was a bit of other stuff that I can't recall. They asked for my name
and address, I gave them my name and said (in a silly bugger way), "My
address is here".

Some nine months later I received a threat of bailiffs if I didn't pay
the fine (I can't recall the amount) for shooting lights, no lights at
night and failing to comply with a request to stop. I didn't even
know I'd been taken to court.

Because I had played silly buggers the police copied down my neigbours
address, not mine, and I never received the summons (at that time a
pair of prostitutes were living in the flat above mine and they had
never passed on the court summons). Because I never had the chance to
defend myself the conviction and fine were quashed.

Perhaps I'm a lucky bugger, not just a silly bugger. ;-)



**Troll bait** - I will welcome some relevant and pertinent
statistical blurb from judith demonstrating that he has a clear
understanding of statistics. I, and others, will read his post with
careful scrutiny, and be so awed that we shall not respond.