A British motorist took his car to a race track to prove to police they were wrong when they claimed he was speeding at 115mph. Steve Lucas (20) could have been banned from driving for six months and fined £2,500 for such excessive speed.
But the Liverpool law student was convinced his Fiat Punto 1.2-litre was not capable of such high speed.
He commissioned an independent traffic consultant to put the car through its paces at Bruntingthorpe test track in Leicestershire, where Top Gear TV programme test drive their cars. There the Punto showed a top speed of just 104mph.
Prosecutors dropped the speeding charge when they saw the evidence.
Lucas instead pleaded guilty to a separate charge of driving without due care and attention, for which he got three penalty points and a £40 fine.
"I was happy to put my hands up and admit that I was driving at 85 mph," he said yesterday, "but the idea that my car could go 115mph was laughable. I decided to fight it because I couldn't afford to have that on my record. It was a point of principle."
His solicitor, Mr Sean Joyce said: "This case shows that, if people feel strongly, as Mr Lucas did, that the police are wrong, they should stand up and challenge them in the courts."Mr Joyce added that Mr Lucas would receive the cost of hiring the track and the driving expert back from court in costs. However, to fund his legal challenge meant Lucas had to sell his car.