A white van driver has been handed a criminal conviction and a £266 court bill for tooting his horn to attract the attention of a friend. Jamie Spence, 52, was spotted by an Essex Police officer while sounding his horn outside Braintree train station on December 4 last year.
The officer reported Spence for “sounding an unauthorised audible warning instrument on a vehicle”, sparking a criminal prosecution. PC Asa Smith told the court he had started watching Spence’s Ford Transit van after suspecting the driver was travelling over the 20mph speed limit on his approach to the station.
“When outside the station, subject vehicle hooted horn a number of times to try and get the attention of a friend, not for the purpose of warning other road users,” the officer wrote in a statement to Colchester Magistrates’ Court.
Spence pleaded guilty, and at a hearing last week magistrate Richard Deacon sentenced him to a £146 fine with an order to also pay £120 in costs. Court documents also show Spence, from Chelmsford, was offered the chance to settle the case out of court but did not respond to a police offer to pay a fixed penalty fine.
The case was dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure, where low-level crimes are heard behind closed doors. Essex Police decided to bring a criminal charge on April 29, and the magistrate passed sentence on May 12.
The RAC advises that the Highway Code states drivers “should only use a car horn when they need to alert other road users of danger of a collision or in the event of a potentially dangerous situation”. Misuse of a car horn is illegal and can result in fines.
