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A SWINDON councillor has been fined after he failed to respond to a police notice of prosecution.
Coun Vinay Manro failed to reply to the police notice of intended prosecution last May after his BMW was spotted speeding on the M4.
As well as a £660 fine, Coun Manro was given six points on his licence.
But in a statement to the Adver, the Priory Vale councillor said he intended to appeal the decision, stating he did respond to the notice.
The case was heard in a behind closed doors hearing at Bath Magistrates’ Court in February.
Avon and Somerset Police said they saw Coun Manro’s 2011-plate BMW travelling at 80mph on the M4 on April 14, 2021.
The vehicle was snapped on the eastbound carriageway between Junction 20 for the M5 and Junction 19 for Bristol.
After receiving the alert, officers then searched the police national computer and found that Coun Manro, of Piernik Close, was the registered owner.
In their statement to the court, an officer in the Speed Enforcement Unit said: “A notice of intended prosecution and requirement to provide driver details under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 was then sent by first class pre-paid post on April 16, 2021 to the registered keeper.
“A reminder letter was issued to that address on May 26, 2021.
“No response to the request for driver’s details was received by the SEU.
“The recipient of the notice logged on to the [Public Access System] on May 17, 2021, however no further correspondence was received therefore the case has been referred to court.”
The now 40-year-old’s case was heard under the single justice procedure, where a single magistrate rules on scores of low-level cases, and defendants are not required to attend, on February 1 of this year.
The case was proved under that procedure and Coun Manro was fined £660.
He was also told to pay a £66 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £90.
The speeding offence was withdrawn in court.
In a statement, the councillor, who ran to be leader of Swindon Borough Council earlier this year, said: “Upon receiving the initial notice to owner I responded in a timely fashion with the driver details. I accepted I was the driver travelling at 80mph in a 70mph.
“I expected there would likely be delays to correspondence due to Covid impacts on the police, Royal Mail, and courts due to staffing. I was however, surprised to only receive a court decision for failing provide detail, with no correspondence in between either from the police authority or courts.
“I have appealed the court decision and have asked the decision be overturned and accept the initial offence but not failure to provide.
“I will allow the legal process to take place. It is my understanding that, if my case had been referred to court, then paperwork will have been issued. I can categorically say that I received no notifications or paperwork from the court that could have resolved this.
“Having researched this appears to be more common recently than we would like to believe with a lack of correspondence followed by decisions being made by courts without knowledge of those involved due to problems with correspondence. I will use my appeal as an example of where improvements can be made.”
Coun Manro fell short in his bid to become council leader in May.
Incumbent David Renard won the vote by what is understood to be a margin of 20 votes to 14.
