SAY CHEESE: The time a taxi driver purposely blocked a mobile speed camera with an umbrella
A taxi driver from Cambridgeshire was fined and ordered to pay costs after he deliberately blocked the view of a mobile speed camera with an umbrella.
Cambridge Magistrates' Court heard that Rawat Khan approached Nigel Field, a camera operator in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, as he operated a mobile camera from a marked van.
He initially obstructed the camera by standing in front of the open window and arguing with Mr Field, a member of police staff and a qualified and experienced camera technician.
He then walked away and returned, opening up an umbrella to block the view of the camera and laser device.
Khan attended Cambridge Magistrates' Court, where he pleaded guilty to obstruction of a designated officer.
He was fined £266 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and victim surcharge of £30.
The team at Beds, Herts and Cambs have expressed their thanks to Road Safety Support for the advice they provided to members in 2018 on the new offence of Camera Operator Obstruction, which greatly assisted the investigating officers with this case.
